Book 5 - Harmony
by silkff
Summary: Korra and Asami fell in love. But what happened next? To avoid any confusion - This is a REWRITE of my older fics, which I've since deleted (Spirits Within, It's Like Lightning, etc). Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, this isn't official LOK. Also... I'm lacking reviews here. Come on, guys. :-)
1. Prologue 1 - The Search

**Prologue 1**

Aasmi _ran._

She ran until her knees felt as though they may buckle. She ran until her lungs screamed for more air, begging her to stop or to slow down.

_I've got to get to her.._.

Just moments ago, she'd seen her father sacrifice himself, killed right in front of her, swatted away by that _bitch_ as though he were nothing. She cast the thought to the back of her mind… she didn't have time to grieve, she had to get to Korra. She could be hurt. Worse, she could be… _no_. Asami wouldn't humour that thought. Korra wouldn't lose to the likes of Kuvira, and Asami couldn't lose anyone else today… surely that would be too cruel a fate.

She ignored the tiredness in her limbs, and she ran. She ran past derelict buildings. She jumped over thick spirit vines that threatened to block her path. _Almost there… almost..._ She hadn't given any thought to how she'd help Korra once she got there. But she'd do anything within her power, and hopefully it would be enough.

A sudden bright light erupted right in front of her, momentarily stunning her. It almost froze in her tracks, or would have, had her instincts not kicked in and forced her to sprint down an alleyway for cover. It was a giant explosion of luminescent, purple spirit energy. Massive, deadly, and worse, it had come from the direction where that she knew Korra would be... from the direction she'd been running toward this whole time.

Asami felt her chest tighten, and for a moment she felt frozen in place, crouched to the ground, her eyes wide and her breaths ragged. _No…_ she couldn't just assume the worse. She had to know. She pushed herself to her feet, and ignored the aches in her over-tired legs as she pressed on, and ran toward the direction of the blast.

A crater loomed ahead, and right in its centre she saw a bright yellow sphere on a raised mound, with what looked to be a spiral of two chains sprouting vertically from within_... is that a double helix? No, not quite…_ Asami's scientific mind almost kicked in, but then she got to the edge of the top of the crater and the truth hit her, and it was so harsh a truth that it knocked the wind from her.

_There's nothing here._

The explosion had vaporised everything in its vicinity, organic or not, and left behind nothing except for a deep bowl filled with vines, mud and rock.

_Korra…_

"No…" Asami choked on the word.

She fell to her knees, crushed by the revelation that Korra was no more. Her fingers splayed into the dirt in front of her, and she saw droplets of water patter down, her tears, turning dry dirt into tiny blobs of mud. And yet, somewhere within the toiling darkness in her mind, a small, persistent glimmer of hope buzzed around, like an annoying bug that one never quite managed to swat away. She heard Tenzin call out for Korra, and then she looked down and saw that everyone was looking for her. She wanted to shout out, ask them if they were insane, or even slap Tenzin for being so ridiculous, so fucking absurd. _How would anyone survive this? Look at it!_

She'd made her way to the bottom of the crater regardless, and found herself joining their futile hunt. She said nothing, and instead held her teeth tightly clenched, unable to trust that she could even form words with the turmoil inside threatening to rip her apart. She stumbled not once, but twice, her legs wobbling as if affected by her own uncertainty.

They searched, for what seemed like an eternity. Korra wasn't in the wreckage of that damned metal giant. She wasn't anywhere at the edge of the crater. Then again how could she be? There'd be no evidence of a corpse, _we won't even be able to bury her_. Asami held her palms to her face at the last thought, willing herself to hold back the emotional breakdown threatening to come.

"Look! The spirits have returned!" she heard Tenzin exclaim.

She stood to her feet and wandered almost aimlessly toward him, momentarily distracted by the spectacle. It was a wonderful sight to behold, but she felt no joy at the sight of them. Instead, she felt an emptiness right in the middle of her chest, cold and stark. She wanted to scream, run, or pass out, or to simply stop existing, for everything to just _stop_. But then she felt something else… that insistent bug of hope she'd sensed earlier suddenly erupted like a firework at the back of her mind, and she instinctively twisted around to look back at the portal.

Korra stepped forth, holding up Kuvira. Any anger that Asami might feel for _that_ woman was washed away by the overwhelming relief which flooded across her entire being. Korra looked bruised, and tired, but very much alive. She seemed to be looking for something, and then her soft, blue eyes found Asami's, and she smiled.

_Korra…!_

It was all Asami could do to keep herself standing. _She's alive. She's looking right at me, and she's alive._ Despite the horrors of the day, at this precise moment Asami found her chest brimming with nothing but delight, and tears of happiness formed at her eyes. She watched as Kuvira turned herself in, then rushed forward, unable to contain herself, and wrapped Korra in as fierce a hug as she could manage. She held her so tightly that she could feel her chest move in time with her breathing.

"Hey, 'Sami," Korra pulled back and grinned at her, and Asami begrudgingly let her go, fully aware that people were staring, or in Jinora's and Milo's case, looking at her as if they knew exactly what was going on.

She hadn't confessed her feelings to Korra, or anyone, for that matter. But after today, she felt for sure that she would. _Life's too short._

They headed back to the air temple at Tenzin's suggestion, and as they walked, she felt a small shudder of delight as Korra casually wrapped her arm around her waist. Asami sighed into her embrace and rested her head on her shoulder, shutting out the painful memories of the day, for now, and simply enjoying the warmth of her body as they travelled onward.


	2. Prologue 2 - The Wedding

**Prologue 2**

Asami tore through the contents of the wardrobe, and felt her frustration gradually increasing. When they'd lost the Sato Industries tower in the blast, she'd forgotten that the majority of her clothing had been there. She cursed herself for her obsession with work, something that had gotten so far out of control she'd practically moved into her own office. And now, in her actual home, the Sato mansion, she couldn't find anything suitable to wear. Not that she was one to care much about material possessions, of course. But this was an important day.

"Having fun?" she heard a familiar voice ask from the doorway. It was Rei, Asami's most trusted confidante, secretary, and good friend.

"Not really… what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I figured you'd be getting ready for your date, thought I'd come help." She smirked.

"It's not... that's not…" Asami frowned at Rei, "I told you, that's a secret. I haven't told anyone else yet."

Rei put her hand on her shoulder, "Look, its fine. From what you've told me, I'd be amazed if she didn't feel the same."

"Yes but… its Varrick's and Zhu-Li's wedding. That's the highlight of the day, not… not Korra…" Asami wasn't sure if she was trying to kid herself, or Rei, and tried to ignore the other woman's chuckle. She thought back to the events of the week.

The night after the new spirit portal had opened up, everyone had headed back to the air temple where Tenzin had provided food and shelter. Asami remembered just how fragile she'd felt, and how sweet Korra had been the entire time. She hadn't left her side, and there'd been so many times that Asami had wanted to give in to her feelings, and just kiss her. Of course, she hadn't dared to, the risk of rejection on top of everything else… it would have simply been too much to bear.

Later that night, when it was time to sleep, or at least try to, Asami had found herself restless. She'd seen haunting visions of her father, smiling gently at her just before pressing her eject button. Her heart had ached, still did ache, at the thought that they could have made it work, they could have healed their wounds, and been a real father and daughter. She'd curled her legs into her chest, and cried. Korra must have heard, since her room was just next door. She'd come in, and without Asami even needing to ask, she'd slept alongside her, said nothing, and held her in her arms as she cried herself to sleep.

Since then, the two had been almost inseparable. Asami smiled to herself at the thought that Korra had somehow turned up wherever she may be, no matter what she may be doing. Such as when she'd looked over the worse part of the city to do some initial scoping on repairs or expansion… Korra had turned up, inquisitive, supportive, more or less demanding that Raiko should damn well pay attention, and that he'd better give Asami his full backing.

And then, just last night, she'd had a late-night conversation with her. About the wedding. About how happy they were for Zhu-Li. Then she'd made what Asami presumed to be a joke, asking if she'd be her dance partner. Her _date_. But then, Asami recalled that despite her usual cocky grin, she'd been blushing when she'd asked.

"Yuan for your thoughts?" Rei asked, snapping her out of her memories.

"I just… do you really think this is a _date_?" she asked, her stomach feeling like it flipped upside-down at the thought.

"Like I said…" Rei almost sounded impatient, "from what you've said, and from what I've seen, it's a safe bet that she likes you too, and was at least half-serious. Now, how about this one?" she asked, holding up a stunning red dress, one that Asami had completely forgotten about.

"Perfect." She grinned.

::

"Korra, will you just calm down, dear." Pema said, holding her by her shoulders.

"I can't believe I asked her that though, urgh! She probably thinks I'm an idiot…" Korra broke free from her grip, and stomped around the room, confused and angry. She had no idea what she should do with the feelings boiling around inside of her.

"Korra… there's something you need to know. Sit down." Pema patted the side of her bed. Korra tried to calm her frantic heartbeat, and sat as instructed.

"What is it?" she asked, almost fearful of whatever revelation may come next.

"When you were gone for all those years… Asami barely left the air temple." Pema looked at her, as though she should decipher something from this fact. Korra simply looked at her, feeling nothing other than confusion.

Pema sighed. "She was here because of how much she cares for you, because it made her feel connected. Are you really so dense?" she grinned, put her hand into Korra's hair and ruffled it.

"But that could just be… it could be like _sisters_. Or friends. I can't believe I asked her to be my date… _shit!_" Korra said, putting her head into her hands. Pema rubbed her back, apparently trying to put her at ease.

"When you get all hot-headed like this, it's like you're the seventeen year old Korra I first met," she teased, "I think it's really sweet that you feel this strongly for her…"

"It doesn't matter what I feel if she doesn't feel the same!" Korra exasperated, then she regretted her words, "I mean, obviously it matters, but it'd just be so…. It'd just really suck." She sighed.

"All right young lady, that does it!" Pema had engaged her full-on mother mode, which Korra knew better than to argue against, and so she simply watched her as she thrust open the wardrobe.

"First of all, you are going to wear _this_." She held aloft a magnificent, blue water tribe dress.

"Where did that come from?" Korra gawped.

"I had your mother send it over especially for you, some time ago, just in case this ever happened."

"_This_…?" Korra tried to work out what she meant, "You mean Asami? You mean you _knew!?_"

"Korra, you two have been pretty much glued together ever since you came back, and it doesn't take an ancient spirit-owl to understand the looks you give each other…"

"Is that why you just laughed when I first told you?" Korra mumbled.

"Pretty much. Now, try it on, and stop worrying. I think tonight's your night, and we're all rooting for you."

"You're all… who _else_ knows?" Korra asked, despairingly.

"Oh just me, your mother, Rei, a few other ladies I hang out with… we think it's _adorable_." She grinned.

"Ughhh..." Korra grunted, then stood up and prepared to get changed. Her heart was still pounding, and she felt sure she'd never been quite this afraid before. The worst part was that there was no monster to defeat, no simple, violent way to fix things. Her heart was on the line. She desperately wanted to make Asami happy, and she would, even if she didn't return her feelings.

::

Asami arrived at the air Temple Island somewhat earlier than she'd expected. Rei had insisted upon it, and given her a cheeky wink before driving the car away, after dropping her off. She nervously pushed her palms down the folds of her dress, smoothing them out, the golden bands on her arms jingling as she did so. She headed toward the altar, and felt a sudden pulse of excitement when she saw that Korra was already there, in an energetic conversation with Mako, Wu and Bolin.

She couldn't help but smile, the boys looked so smart, and happy, for the first time in a long time. And Korra… _wow…_ was she actually in a _dress_? Asami hadn't seen her in anything other than her combat garb for as long as she could remember. She looked positively radiant, laughing at some joke Bolin had just spouted. Then she turned around, and their eyes met, and Asami almost felt as though time itself slowed down.

Rather than stare like some fox-rabbit frozen in headlights, she forced her legs to walk, one at a time. _Act natural, it's probably not really a date, she was joking, just breathe_. By the time she got there, Korra was staring at the floor, twiddling her thumbs. _She's nervous?_ Asami recognised the signs, she was pretty good even at subtle body language, and this was anything but subtle.

"Hey, Korra! Hey guys!" She said, cheerfully, once she was close enough. Korra looked up at her and smiled, and Asami felt herself drawn forward as if in some unexplainable pull. She wrapped her arms around Korra, and sighed contentedly when she felt her arms return the favour.

"You look really nice…" she heard Korra mumble into her ear.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Asami grinned, deciding that humour would be the safest option for now. Certainly better than telling her she loved the dress but would also love to take it off. Korra's extraordinary physique had been a constant torment to Asami, ever since she'd first harboured feelings towards her, as far back as their kidnapping by the earth queen. She'd had dream after dream about running her tongue across her abdomen, and then down further…

"Asami?" Korra had pulled back from their embrace, and was looking at her quizzically.

"Oh, sorry," Asami felt a blush threaten to creep up, "I was just wondering when the wedding starts," she lied.

"Soon!" Bolin said, and Pabu chattered at his shoulder, as though nervous.

"Come on guys, let's get some good seats!" Wu declared, dragging Mako off before he could speak.

"You don't think…?" Korra asked, looking at the two.

"Wu and Mako?" Asami stifled back a giggle, "I sincerely doubt it. Besides, I want to hook him up with my secretary."

"Rei?" Korra looked as though deep in thought for a moment, "Actually yeah, I can see that working out quite well, you little match-maker you…" she jokingly elbowed Asami in her ribs, and for the moment at least, it felt as though any tension between them had cleared.

They filed into their seats, and were soon joined by familiar faces all around. Lin, Kya, Su, Tenzin, Pema and the kids, Bumi, Tonraq, Senna, and before long, everyone. Asami felt at peace, being so close to so many good friends at the same time. She looked to her right where she saw Korra smiling back at her, and felt her heart flutter. _Damn her eyes, damn what they do to me_, she thought, smiling back.

Then the ceremony began, and everyone gasped at just how beautiful Zhu-Li looked in her dress. Even Varrick had been moved to tears, and despite their differences and conflicts in the past, Asami felt so very happy for him. She looked to her right again and noticed that Korra's hands were on her lap. She took a deep breath. Asami had told herself before she came today, that she'd find out exactly how Korra felt, one way or another. So, it was time to act. She looked ahead, pretended to pay attention to the ceremony, and gently slid her hand atop Korra's, at which she heard a quiet gasp.

Then, she dared to look up at her, to gauge her reaction. Korra was staring back at her, and she looked… confused? Scared? Asami squeezed her hand and slanted her eyebrows, willing Korra to not freak out, her heart pounding vigorously now, so that she could hear it ringing loudly in her ears. Then her tensions fell completely away as Korra placed her other hand above hers, and smiled at her, an adorable blush forming at her cheeks. They sat like that for the rest of the ceremony, tracing their thumbs slowly across each other's hands.

::

The rest of the ceremony went well, and Korra found herself laughing loudly with everyone else when Zhu-Li took Varrick across her knee for a kiss. Soon afterwards, people began to leave the altar and head toward the reception area. Korra tried not to dwell too much on the intimate hand-holding she'd shared with Asami for the second half of the ceremony, or how much she'd wanted to kiss her the moment that she'd done it.

"I think they'll make a wonderful couple!" Asami said, her green eyes sparkling with amusement. It made Korra's heart soar to see her look so happy, after everything that had happened.

"Yeah but, don't you worry that they'll invent a doomsday device or something?" She asked, and realised with some concern that she was actually half-serious.

"Well… we'd just have to save the world again if that happened, right?" Asami winked at her, then took her hand. Korra felt her cheeks burn, and felt herself lost for words, as she was led to the dining area.

Before they got there, Korra heard her father call them over,

"Korra, Asami, do you have a moment?" he asked, and she noticed that her mother was by his side, smiling.

"Uh sure, is something the matter?" Korra asked, suddenly feeling a little nervous as they followed them to a quieter area.

"Asami, we noticed the advances you made on our daughter back there." her father turned to face her, and folded his arms. Asami looked as though lost for words, and perhaps even a little frightened.

"Dad! Seriously!" Korra punched him lightly in his arm. But he continued,

"In the south, we have a strict partnership custom that must be adhered to, but first of all, tell me, are your intentions towards my little girl serious?"

Korra felt lost for words, she hadn't realised that her Dad would be this protective, or that he'd have any problem with Asami, of all people. She was about to jump to her defence, but Asami spoke first.

"I… yes. If she'll have me." Asami said quietly, and Korra felt herself blush at the confession. She saw her mother's smile deepen, and then the tell-tale sign of laughter threatening to escape her lips, at which point she realised what they were up to.

"You guys!" Korra exasperated, as her father's face folded into creases of laughter, and he almost doubled over with loud guffaws.

"Hah! Your face!" he pointed at Asami, who by now looked positively mortified.

"Oh you poor thing," Senna approached her and gave her a hug, "Sweetheart, we've always known how you felt about Korra, we're just so happy to finally see something come of it!"

"MOTHER!" Korra shouted, "Okay, that's it, you two have had your fun," she said as she took Asami's arm, "Let's get out of here…"

As they escaped her still-jovial parents, Korra turned to Asami,

"I'm sorry, they're just the worse sometimes…"

"Actually, it was kind of nice." Asami smiled at her, "once Tonraq stopped trying to terrify me, that is." She laughed.

There was a pause, an almost awkward silence, before Korra dared to ask what was now on her mind. Eventually, she summoned the courage to speak,

"So… did you um, mean what you said?" She asked, and hoped that she wasn't pushing things too far. She saw Asami bite her lip,

"I… I did. Is that okay?" Asami looked at her, and when she stared back into her eyes, Korra had to fight against the urge to kiss her right there and then. Instead, she took her hand,

"More than…" Korra smiled as they headed inside together, then quickly found their table. Mako, Bolin, Lin and Kya were already seated, and engaged in animated conversation.

Korra piled several buffalo-bird wings onto her plate from the serving dish at the centre, and pretended to complain when Asami stole one of them. Bolin started to broadcast his voice across the table, telling wild and unbelievable stories, but Korra lost the ability to pay any attention to him. Underneath the table, Asami had started to slowly run her hand up and down her thigh. Such a simple, small gesture, and yet it sent sparks down her spine, and caused a throb between her legs.

Asami glanced across at her, and then deftly slid her palm up underneath her dress, touching her bare skin. Korra had to hold back any moan threatening to escape her lips, and it was then that she noticed a hint of amusement in Asami's eyes. _She's enjoying this, tormenting me…_ Korra thought. Perhaps it was revenge for the stunt her parents had just pulled. She closed her eyes and willed the night to end, so that she could find a more private moment with Asami. It didn't seem real… it didn't really click into place that she was doing this, that her hand was right there, touching her.

_Asami..._

Korra started to imagine the other things that her hand could be doing, or how it might feel if she were to move it up just a _little_ further… her mouth turned suddenly dry at the last thought. She looked across the table at Asami, with lidded eyes, at which Asami leant over and whispered,

"Want to go outside for a bit?"

Korra noticed that her voice sounded deeper than usual, and her eyes were definitely conveying a different kind of meaning from earlier. Korra mutely nodded, allowed her to take her hand, and followed her outside. They walked around the building toward the far side of the coast, to a secluded spot just over the ocean, where Asami leant over the banister, and looked out across the sea.

"Sorry…" Korra heard her say, barely audible above the sounds of the waves.

"For what?" Korra asked, moving alongside her.

"In there, I'm guessing… well, I probably shouldn't have done that?" she looked at her. Korra wondered if she were joking, then she suddenly realised that Asami had probably been every bit as worried about all of this as she had.

"Asami…" Korra put her hand on her shoulder, "Honestly, you were driving me a little crazy…" she blushed.

"In a good way?" Asami looked at her, her expression somewhere between terrified, and hopeful, and it was completely irresistible. Korra couldn't help herself any longer… she moved forward and without any hesitation she kissed her, immediately surprised at just how good her lips felt, and how _right_ they felt. Moments later, she pulled slightly apart from the kiss, to murmur,

"In a _very_ good way."

Korra felt her heart melt when she saw Asami's face relax into a smile, and she saw tears form at her eyes. She felt her own eyes become damp, and all of the uncertainty and doubt that had plagued her up until now just fell away, replaced with warmth, and joy, and excitement. She stroked the side of Asami's cheek, knowing that she had just experienced the same revelation, that a huge burden had been lifted, for them both.

When Korra moved in for a second kiss, neither one of them hesitated. She felt Asami's arms wrap tightly around her, and soon found her tongue, which she lunged against with her own, kissing deeply, inhaling her scent, moaning with her as their hips started to speak their own language, grinding against one another's legs… and then, when she was dizzy with desire, she felt Asami pull away.

"If we don't stop now, I don't think I'll be able to…" Asami warned, her voice shaking. Korra didn't want to stop. She wanted her, all of her, with every fibre of her being. But then a thread of sanity managed to seep back into her thoughts, and she realised that they were in-fact fully visible from any who would care to look from the reception area. She tried to slow her breathing, and distract herself from her by-now maddening desire.

"Do you think anyone will notice if we vanish?" Korra asked her, and she was completely serious.

Asami chuckled and stroked her cheek, "Sadly, yes. But I would have very much liked that."

"Okay… let's go back in and... dance?" Korra suggested.

::

Asami felt more… _alive_ than she had for years. For as long as she could remember, she'd yearned to feel Korra's lips against hers. For so long, she'd wanted to know what it would be like to be almost crushed in her embrace. And it had literally just happened, and it had felt better than she could have ever imagined. She felt faint at the thought of the other desires that could lay ahead, and she desperately wished that if this were a dream, may she never wake up.

She found herself taken by surprise as Korra led her around the dancefloor. Presumably these were water-tribe moves, because she didn't recognise them, and it was very difficult to keep up. When the next song came on, Asami decided she'd have a little fun of her own. She forcefully changed their stances, taking the lead, raising an eyebrow at Korra as if to challenge her. Korra simply grinned back, a silent acknowledgement that she could have this one.

It was a very fast, sensual number. Perfect for this particular dance. She grabbed one of Korra's hands and stretched it outward to their side, then slowly led her feet around the floor in delicate gestures. At the crescendo, she thrust herself forward into Korra's torso, forcing her downward, her leg subtly pressed against her crotch. She saw her cheeks redden, and heard her gasp at the contact.

When she pulled her back up, Korra hoarsely whispered, "If you do that again, I'm air-bending you out of here, right in front of everyone…"

"Promises, promises, Korra…" Asami grinned. She was already loving this newfound dynamic of theirs. Being able to freely flirt with Korra, to tease her, to have this effect on her… it was invigorating. She'd waited so long for it, she could still scarcely believe it was happening at all.

Eventually, the band switched to slow-paced, romantic music, indicating the final few dances of the night, for which it was an unwritten rule to let the bride and groom take the floor. Besides which, Asami didn't think she'd be able to restrain herself if she had to slow-dance with Korra. She took her hand instead, and headed back to their table. Bolin and Opal had perhaps had one too many drinks, and were sleeping against one another, whilst Mako was having a heated political debate with Lin, Kya and Wu. She turned to Korra, and was about to find a way to confess to her a little more about how she felt, but then Tenzin interrupted.

"Korra, Asami, how are you finding the night?" he enquired.

"Good. Really good. Really, _really_ good." Korra beamed at him, and Asami had to stifle back a giggle.

"I was wondering if I could have a quiet word?" he asked Korra.

"Yeah, um, sure!" Korra said, and she looked back at Asami with an apologetic expression as she followed him toward the nearest exit.

Asami drummed her fingers on the table, already missing Korra's closeness. She ordered a glass of champagne to pass the time, and listened in on the conversation Mako was having. It wasn't that interesting, just about the police, and how they'd cope going forwards. Things she'd personally rather not discuss at a wedding, of all places. She closed her eyes and thought back to the kiss she'd shared with Korra, just moments ago. Her chest swelled at the memory, and she wanted nothing more than to experience it again, as soon as possible.

After another ten minutes or so, she began to feel impatient. Surely whatever Tenzin had wanted to tell Korra couldn't take this long? She chided herself for being selfish. She didn't own Korra, after all. She put her chin into her palm and sighed, more out of frustration than anything.

Varrick surprised her by suddenly coming out of nowhere, and pulling up a chair. "Hey kiddo!" he almost-yelled.

"Varrick, weren't you dancing?" she asked, knowing full well that he should be.

"Zhu-Li had to go to the bathroom, and I noticed that Tenzin kidnapped your new girlfriend!" he beamed at her.

"Wait… what… _how?!_" Asami found herself speechless.

"These eyes see everything." He said, tapping his finger just under his eye, and Asami honestly didn't want any kind of elaboration.

"We haven't formally said we're girlfriends," Asami pouted.

"That's where it's headed, and you know it! Anyway… I'm bored, so I'm going to try one of those glider suits from the tower. You should probably warn Tenzin." Varrick winked at her, and Asami grinned when she understood his plan.

Just as she was about to thank him, Zhu-Li turned up and dragged him back to the dance floor, but not before glaring knowingly at Asami and casting her gaze outside to where Korra would be. _Do these people seriously know everything?_ She wondered, as she headed outside.

She found Tenzin, his hand on Korra's shoulder. She looked happy, so whatever he was telling her was, thankfully, not bad news… goodness knows they'd had enough of that to last a lifetime. She walked closer and cleared her throat with a polite cough, at which Korra spun to face her, and when she saw her eyes light up, Asami couldn't help but grin back at her.

"Excuse me Tenzin." She said, formally, "Varrick is looking for you… something about wanting to borrow a glider suit to fly off the tower?"

Tenzin turned pale at the words, "Well that doesn't seem like a good idea!" he exclaimed, running back toward the reception hall.

Once he'd left, Asami walked toward Korra, glanced quickly behind to see if anyone was looking, and then pushed herself forward into her frame, their legs and arms interlocking, like two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly.

"Miss me?" she whispered.

"More than you know…" Korra said, and Asami felt her fingers slide into the back of her hair, sending shivers through her body.

"If you keep doing that…" Asami warned.

"I know, I know…" Korra said, "But the night is nearly over…" Asami pulled back from their embrace and looked at her. Sure enough, she was conveying a clear message with her gaze, and Asami realised that this was actually the first time she'd seen a lustful look in those otherwise innocent blue eyes. It made her feel almost drunk with power… she decided to push the boundary a bit more.

"What are you planning to do at the end of the night?" she growled into Korra's ear, and she felt her hands tighten around her waist in response.

"You'll soon find out…" Korra whispered, and Asami felt a strong wave of pleasure flood through her. Was this _really_ happening? She almost felt as though she didn't deserve it, somehow. Unfortunately, that negative thought paved the way for other similar thoughts… memories of her father, of her loss, of when Korra had nearly died to poison, of how she'd left for all those years, and how Asami thought she'd died again just a week ago. Asami sighed, feeling suddenly tired and defeated. Korra pulled back from their embrace and looked at her with concern.

"Hey… are you okay?" Korra asked, "Was it something I said?"

"No… it's not you." Asami sighed, and sat down, Korra joining her on the stair soon after.

"Then… what's wrong?"

"I just… I saw him die." Asami said, and felt tears start to form, "I saw him die, you'd only just come back, then I thought I'd lost you too… and I just couldn't _stand_ it." At that, the tears did form, and they fell freely. She wanted to embrace her newfound connection with Korra, but she was suddenly terrified that she'd be ripped from her at any moment.

"I'm so sorry…" Korra put her arms around her.

"Sorry for what?" Asami asked, through her sobs.

"For leaving you alone all that time. For not coming back." Korra stared into her eyes, and Asami could see that she meant every word. She'd always believed Korra when she'd said she hadn't meant to stay gone for so long, so she'd never really expected an apology. It was still sweet, though.

"You have nothing to apologise for… just… don't ever die on me, okay?" Asami asked, knowing full well it was a crazy demand.

"Not until I'm old and grey and you're too senile to realise." Korra grinned. Asami laughed out loud.

They stared out at the ocean for a while, hand in hand, lost in thought. Then, eventually,

"I think the band is playing some more. Did you want to dance again?" Korra asked.

"No way, I'm all danced out," Asami said, feeling suddenly exhausted, "Honestly… after everything that's happened, I could use a vacation."

"A Vacation?" Korra looked surprised, "That's actually not a bad idea… let's do it! Just the two of us. Anywhere you want."

"Really?" Asami hadn't expected Korra to take her request seriously, but since she had, "I've always wanted to see what the spirit world is like…"

Korra took her hand, excited blue eyes staring into hers, "Then let's go, nobody will mind if it's just a few days!"

"I don't know about that…" Asami said, knowing full well they had so much to do...

"Just let Rei deal with it, you trust her, right?" Korra smiled at her reassuringly.

"I suppose I do… Okay then, just for a few days…" Asami smiled. A _vacation_, with Korra of all people. Surely it were a dream come true.

They said their polite farewells to the few people left at the wedding, and then headed to the air temple where Korra quickly gathered clothes and supplies from her room and stuffed them into her backpack. Once she was ready, the two hitched a ride on an air bison back to the Sato mansion.

Asami took Korra's hand and led her inside, then into her room, where she found herself immediately conflicted. She paused, mid-step. They were finally alone… On one hand, she wanted to do everything with Korra that she'd dreamt of for so long now, but on the other hand, she was just so damn tired after the emotional rollercoaster of the day.

"Hey, it's okay," Korra said, putting her arms loosely around her shoulders, as if she'd detected her turmoil, "Let's sleep tonight, we have the entire vacation ahead of us."

"You're right…" Asami said, smiling at Korra and placing a quick kiss on her lips. She kept the contact brief, otherwise she knew that they'd get no sleep tonight.

She began to pack her belongings for tomorrow, trying to make sure she got everything she needed plus a few spare things, just in case. As she was checking things over for the third time, Korra decided to change _right_ in front of her, slowly pulling her dress up and over her shoulders, until only underwear and tanned skin remained. Asami felt a sudden twinge at her centre.

"Are my spare night-clothes still here?" she asked, looking at Asami.

Asami's mouth felt too dry for her to try to speak, so she nodded and pointed to the dresser on the left, whilst looking down and trying to focus on her backpack. She eventually risked a glance upward, where Korra looked straight back at her as she tied her pyjama belt into a knot. Then she smirked, making it quite clear that she knew full well the effect she was having, and Asami was seriously considering cancelling the holiday and staying right here for a few days.

She'd had seen Korra undress before, of course. She'd even helped her into and out of her clothes when she'd been injured, but back then it had always been completely platonic, and she'd cast anything else out of her mind as being nothing more than a foolish fantasy. This was _very_ different.

She tried to clear her mind of the endless sensual possibilities that were swimming around. She focused her thoughts, stopped herself from looking at Korra for a moment, then once her mind was a little clearer she called Rei to check that everything would be okay in her absence, and asked her to inform everybody of their whereabouts. She ignored her filthy jibes about Korra and their _'lesbian vacation'_, and then put the phone down, chuckling to herself.

She quickly changed into her nightwear in the bathroom, and then clambered into bed, with Korra following right behind her. She sunk backward into her arms, and despite the physical needs gnawing at her, not helped in the least by Korra's wicked flirtations, she almost immediately fell asleep.


	3. Shelter

Korra found herself fighting for her life, dodging huge sheets of metal, and narrowly avoiding their sharpened edges by a whisper each time. She fought with all of her strength, and eventually turned the tide of battle in her favour. She launched a scorching blast of fire, then a vicious blast of air at her opponent, knocking her backward through the wall behind, where she landed backward into a field of purple and blue. Korra crouched over her, a scowl at her face as she readied her final blow.

But then she saw her opponent's face, and her eyes went wide in recognition.

It was the _other_ version of herself, the one that used to haunt her, chains hanging from her wrists, and an unforgiving, intense white stare. Korra had realised some time ago that she was the representation of her pain and turmoil. It was something she never thought that she'd see again, but she felt a strange sense of relief that she had. Now, she had the chance to do what she should have done earlier, all that time ago.

She extended her arm out, opened her palm and pulled the other woman up, then put a hand to her cheek, feeling nothing but an overwhelming sense of empathy for her.

"I'm so sorry…" Korra said, "I wasn't there for you. I gave up. I gave in. I let everyone down, but I let _you_ down more than anyone."

The other woman's face softened, and for the first time, her eyes shimmered back to a normal blue from their bright white. A tear fell down her cheek, and she smiled as Korra pulled her in to an embrace, then disintegrated into a thousand tiny sparks of light, each rising slowly into the air.

Korra felt a weight leave her chest, one that she hadn't even realised was there.

And then, she suddenly awoke, blinking her eyes rapidly, momentarily confused. She would be sure to ask Iroh about what just happened, the next time she got the chance. As she regained her senses, she felt a warm body against her chest, captured loosely in her arms.

_Asami_.

The events of yesterday came flooding back, and her heart throbbed. _It wasn't a dream…_ the wedding, the kiss, _everything_. It had all happened, and she was right here, _right here!_ And she'd returned Korra's feelings. And that kiss had been… _amazing… _and now they were going on holiday together! Korra felt that if her grin stretched any further, it may tear at her skin.

She lay still for a while, enjoying the sound of Asami's light breathing, and the feel of her body against hers.

As Asami slept, Korra reminisced about their past. She wasn't sure whether she could pin-point the moment that her feelings had developed somewhere beyond friendship, but she felt that it had to have started around the time when Asami had rescued her, on the airship. She'd thought, at the time, those feelings to be nothing but awe, that she'd simply been impressed. But after that incident, she'd paid much closer attention to Asami, to everything that she said and did. She'd noticed how skilled a fighter she was, and she'd felt almost entranced by the way her body moved. It wasn't long after that, when Korra had found herself thinking about kissing those gorgeous lips of hers, and more besides.

As the fates would have it, just when she had been planning to confess her feelings, _Zaheer_ had happened. Korra frowned. She didn't want to think about that right now. She was just eternally grateful that she'd gotten a second chance, after her long absence. Asami had still been here, she hadn't hated her for being away for so long, and she hadn't discovered another lover. Korra found herself selfishly thankful for all of that. Her hand subconsciously clenched around Asami's at the thought, causing the other woman to break from her slumber.

::

Asami hadn't remembered falling asleep, so she felt more than a little confused when her eyes cracked open and she drifted into consciousness. A brief moment later, she noticed the hand above hers, she felt warmth at her back, and then elation threatened to overwhelm her. She turned her head slowly to the side, so that she could see behind, just to be sure… and sure enough there she was, Korra, staring right back at her, with those damn soul-destroying eyes of hers.

"Morning," Korra said, her cocky grin turning into a sweet smile.

"Good morning yourself," Asami said sleepily, as she turned herself around to face Korra, where she placed a hand on her waist. She wondered if it were somehow wrong that she'd been awake for less than ten seconds and already felt like kissing her… No sooner had the thought entered her mind, than Korra leant forward, pulled her into her arms and pressed her lips into hers.

Though the kiss began as nothing more than a delicate greeting, it quickly became something more, and before long Asami found herself returning the kiss fervently, seeking Korra's tongue, grasping her arms behind her waist and digging her fingers into her back. It didn't take long at all for the embers lefts over from yesterday to reignite into a bright furnace… She felt sure that she'd never wanted to make love to anyone this badly, the need was all-consuming, and as she felt Korra slide a hand up her nightgown, it was all she could do to even remain sane.

But somehow, reason won out. Perhaps it was the mechanical side of her mind, or the strategist within... she really wasn't sure. But somehow, she managed to force her palm to Korra's chest, pushing her away slightly. She paused like that for a while, willing herself to resist the intense, passion-fuelled eyes before her.

"Are you okay?" Korra panted, and Asami immediately chided herself for making Korra doubt herself at all, even if for a moment.

"Yes… very much yes." Asami smiled at her, and stroked her cheek to offer reassurance, "Don't take this the wrong way, I could do this all day, and then all week, and that's the problem…"

"Oh." Korra said, and Asami felt relieved to see a flicker of understanding in her eyes.

"Let's… let's just get ready, go to the spirit world where nobody can disturb us, and then…" Asami raised an eyebrow, "I'm all yours."

"Urrrgh!" Korra groaned and pulled away, flopping over onto her back, "You're right. Let's do this, quickly."

Asami couldn't agree more about the _quickly_ part. She was eternally grateful that they'd already packed the night before. She went into the bathroom, closed the door for fear of Korra distracting her, then washed herself and meticulously brushed her teeth. She then walked back into her bedroom, where she saw Korra sat on the edge of the bed with her arms folded, staring at her, her eyes still lust-crazed.

"Don't." Asami said, bluntly, "Just… just go freshen up whilst I get changed…"

"Fine, fine," Korra sighed, but as she walked past Asami, she paused mid-step and closed her lips to her ear, where she gently nibbled at the delicate flesh. Asami groaned, and almost lost control all over again.

She snapped back to her senses when she heard Korra close the bathroom door, and quickly changed into her outdoor clothing. She pulled her best combat trousers up and fastened them, slipped a black vest over her bra, and buttoned her favourite future-industries jacket up, all the way to the collar. Then she found her black hiking books, the worn-in ones that she could traverse anywhere comfortably in.

Korra swung open the bathroom door and paused, casting her gaze up and down.

"Did I ever tell you how good you look in that?" she purred.

"Well, you did just now…" Asami smiled, bit her lip, and then pretended to swat at Korra, "enough of your damn distractions, get ready!"

"Yes ma'am!" Korra saluted, and began to take her underwear off, _right_ in front of her.

Asami spun around, not wanting to risk how she'd react if she saw Korra naked right now. She'd end up getting undressed all over again… and then… and then. _Mmhmm._ She closed her eyes, hummed to herself, and began to visualise all of the things that they could do together in the spirit world.

Before she could get fully engrossed in her less-than-innocent thoughts, she felt Korra approach behind her, and then her arms, slipping around her waist and resting on her abdomen.

"Damn it, Korra…" she growled in warning, as she turned around. Korra was, thankfully, now fully-dressed. She wore her usual combat garb – blue, baggy trousers, her favourite brown boots, and that sleeveless, white-trimmed blue vest that Asami had always adored. And then, just to top it off, she was wearing those trademark full-length gloves of hers. Asami wasn't sure why, but she'd always found something a little… _erotic_ about them. She trailed a finger loosely up and down Korra's forearm, delighting at the feel of muscle beneath the fabric.

"Asami…" Korra whispered, and Asami could see from the way she was biting her lip that she'd just found a special button that she could surely press again in the near future. She grinned at the notion, then stopped herself before she got carried away.

"Let's go, Korra." She said, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders.

"Mmm... 'Kay." Korra mumbled. She seemed lost for words as she took her own satchel and followed Asami outside, toward the satomobile.

::

Korra battled against her fierce desires, and forced herself to keep her hands on her lap as Asami sped them toward their destination. She'd donned her green goggles, and Korra could see that her brow was furrowed in concentration, probably due to the vines and rubble that littered their path. It was an electric, alluring look, and Korra had to restrain herself from leaning over and placing her hand on her thigh. She guessed that a car crash wouldn't be the best of ideas, so she looked ahead and tried to take her mind off the constant, physical tug that she felt.

The portal was, thankfully, not that far away. As they stepped out of the car and headed toward it, Korra made a mental note that they should probably fence it off from the public when they got back, at least until she could educate people on what lay within.

Her thoughts came back to the present as they walked forwards. Giant spirits flew above, and they cried out as they approached, in a friendly, almost welcoming manner. Korra turned her head to her side to see Asami looking right back at her, with a warm smile. Korra smiled back as she sought her hand with her own, and upon finding it, she held it tightly as they walked into the golden light.

"Don't be scared…" she said, squeezing Asami's hand, "this will feel weird the first time."

Asami looked back at her, smiled, and nodded, seemingly grateful for the warning. They headed into the portal, continued to walk through it, and then in no time at all they walked outside of it on the other side.

Asami gasped, and Korra turned to face her, drinking in the look of awe on her face. _Of course... She's never been here_. Korra remembered how she'd felt at first… bewildered, overwhelmed. She saw Asami's eyes fill with wonder in the same way that hers probably had, the sparkling evening stars of the spirit world reflected in them.

Korra gave her all the time that she needed for it to sink in, content to watch as she roamed around at her own pace. The spirits seemed to take a special interest in Asami, and her eyes lit up when a flutter-bee landed atop her hand, shook its wings, and then flew off into the night again.

"Korra…" she eventually spoke.

"Do you like it?" Korra asked, squeezing her hand.

Asami blinked a couple of times, then looked back at her for the first time since they'd walked into this world.

"It's a little... overwhelming…" she chuckled, "and it's nothing like I could have imagined, but yes... I like it."

She moved her hand to Korra's cheek, where Korra sighed into her gentle caress.

"I like _you_ more, though…" Asami purred. A moment later she smirked, no doubt in reaction to the blush that Korra felt visibly creep into her cheeks.

Korra coughed, determined to fight off her embarrassment and re-attain her cool demeanour,

"It's just turned night-time here, the spirit world tends to work on its own clock… we should probably find shelter." she said, taking Asami's hand and walking determinedly toward… she didn't actually _know_ where. She'd never been to this part of the spirit world. Worst case scenario, they'd have to camp in a field somewhere out in the open. She felt Asami's hand leave hers, and in its place, she felt her arm link into her own.

"So, where are you taking me?" Asami asked, looking at her inquisitively.

"I uh… okay, don't get mad, but I actually don't kno…"

"Korra!" she heard a familiar voice interrupt her confession. The two spun to face the source.

"Iroh!" Korra exclaimed. Had she been looking for him? She was sure she hadn't, not right now at least. She peered behind him and saw his cottage, golden light pouring from the windows, where no doubt a fresh brew awaited. The house hadn't been there a second ago, but Korra had long since given up on trying to work out how things worked here – it was far better to just accept them.

Iroh raised an eyebrow as he looked from her, to Asami, and then back again. She realised that they were still linking arms, and found herself lost for words, her face becoming very hot indeed.

"Ha ha ha!" Iroh chuckled, "I thought it odd for you to seek me at this hour, Korra." But it would seem that you weren't looking for _me_ at all…" he raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Korra asked, not entirely sure that she wanted to hear the answer.

"You were looking for a place to _stay_, Korra. With your new friend…" He waited, as if expecting something. Asami jumped in,

"I'm Asami. It's a pleasure to meet you…" She said politely, leant forward to shake his hand, and then asked hesitantly, "… Are you really _the_ Iroh?"

"Oh come now, I was never _that_ famous." He chuckled, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Asami. Would you care to join me for tea, and perhaps a game of pai sho sometime?"

"I would be honoured!" Asami said, and her face brightened with excitement. Korra found it heart-warming.

Iroh turned to face Korra, and he smiled, even more broadly than usual.

"Korra, it brings warmth to my heart to see young love blossom, especially when two people deserve each other so much. This shelter is one of many. Take it, please, and use it for your stay." He bowed, "I will make sure that the spirits leave you in peace."

"Iroh…" Korra wanted to express her gratitude, but found herself lost for words.

"It is thanks enough to see you so happy!" He grinned at her, winked, and walked off into the distance, where he soon vanished from sight. It was only then that Korra remembered she'd wanted to ask him about her dream. _Damn!_ She cursed herself, but swiftly felt herself relax when Asami wrapped her arms around her from behind.

"It's hard to believe we just woke up, and it's night-time again." Asami mumbled, into her shoulder.

"You can lose track of time here, if you're not careful." Korra warned, putting her hand over the one that Asami had at her abdomen.

"Oh... now wouldn't that be a terrible shame?" Asami asked, her lips less than an inch from Korra's neck, her breath hot.

At that thinly-veiled question, something inside of Korra snapped, that last, thin thread that she'd been holding onto ever since their first kiss just yesterday. She spun around, wrapped her arms around Asami's waist and pulled her into a fierce kiss, unable to hold back the longing swelling inside of her for any longer. When she felt Asami's arms circle her shoulders, she placed her hands at her posterior and, without breaking their kiss, hoisted her up at her waist so that she was now carrying her to their newfound abode.

Asami paused from the kiss to chuckle,

"Showing off your strength again?" she teased. Korra couldn't think of a witty retort, mainly because her mind was swirling with thought after thought of all the things that she wanted to do to her.

Asami must have sensed this, because her face quickly shifted from amusement to something far more primal, and Korra groaned as she pulled herself tightly against her shoulders for another deep kiss. Korra continued to carry her backwards toward the door, which creaked slowly open when she pressed Asami's back against it. Inside, there was an untouched room, with a freshly made queen-sized bed, and dim lighting all around.

_Thanks, Iroh_, Korra thought, eternally grateful for his intervention as she carried Asami inside, then lowered her slowly to the bed, tracing kisses along her neck as she did so.


	4. Love

_It's happening._

Korra's above her, and she can feel warm lips against her neck. Her heart can't quite accept it, but with each kiss, there's a shiver down her spine, and she becomes more certain that it's real.

"Korra…" she whispers, fearful in speaking the name, as though this were an illusion that could shatter, like waking from a dream.

She grabs her fist into the fabric at Korra's back, and sure enough, she can trace every fibre of the clothing. Her brain starts to register the truth, she's really doing this, Korra is here, she can feel her, and a tear streaks down her cheek as she finally allows herself to believe. She tilts her head back, revealing as much flesh as she can to those persistent lips. Heat flushes to her cheeks as the kisses become firmer, and she feels the wet pressure of Korra's tongue.

A groan escapes her as she feels teeth nip into the soft flesh beneath her ear, and then fingers tug at her jacket. The first button is popped open, another, and after the third the material is tugged to the side, exposing the string of her vest, her shoulder and collar bone. She bites her lip, barely concealing a moan as Korra's mouth heads straight toward her newly exposed skin.

They've been here for a minute, two at most, and she's taken aback by how much she needs Korra. It is an ache, a desperate, almost unbearable pull. She opens her eyes, and her breath catches when she sees Korra's face, dilated pupils, lidded eyes, lips slightly parted. It's a dangerous, hungry look, one that she never thought she'd see… Her throat becomes dry.

She raises her hands to the sides of Korra's face, and pushes the strands of hair back. She feels a little dizzy seeing those eyes bore into hers, intently staring.

"Is this really happening?" she whispers, quietly, sliding her thumbs across Korra's cheek. The otherwise fierce gaze softens a little, Korra smiles, and places a hand above hers.

It causes a brief moment of confusion when a thumb digs under her hand, removing it from the soft, warm cheek and instead guiding it toward Korra's mouth. Blue eyes lock onto hers as a finger is singled out, then sucked slowly between tightened lips. The sucking, wet warmth of Korra's mouth obliterates any of her fears, she feels a deep growl resonate from inside of her, and there's a familiar, wet warmth growing between her legs.

Korra releases her finger with a soft pop, then unbuttons the rest of her jacket and prises it apart, exposing her abdomen, and the black vest she's wearing just above it. The vest is eased upwards, and a moment later she can feel Korra's hot lips and tongue exploring her, kissing and sucking beneath her ribs, and then around her navel. Her body is writhing, and she threads the fingers of one hand into Korra's hair, the other falling heavily to one side, her fist tightly gripping the bed linen.

Her heart is beating so fast, pounding so hard, that she worries for a moment she won't survive this. It's a crazy thought, and it's one that dissipates the second Korra's lips move upward, toward a new target. She cries out as she feels teeth scrape across her vest then tighten onto her hard nipple…

"Fuck…"

Korra pushes the vest loosely over the top of her chest, the cold air a shock to her exposed torso. She feels Korra's hot breath panting against her, and she cracks open one eye to look down, where she can see Korra's mouth hovering less than an inch away from her flesh. It's like an eternity, waiting for her lips to move downward, then she sees Korra glance up for the briefest of moments before lunging hot, wet lips onto her breast.

Her chest arches up into the new heat, she holds back the scream threatening to escape, and she balls her hand into a fist, clenching the threads of Korra's hair. She feels Korra moan against her breast, then feels wet pressure circling her sensitive nipple. She can't stand it. There's an insatiable need for more, for skin against skin. She desperately searches for one last thread of sanity, then raises a palm to Korra's shoulder to ease her away for a moment.

Korra looks almost hurt at the gesture, so she quickly pushes herself upward against her lips, trapping them in a deep kiss that she isn't sure she can break away from. It's the second time they've kissed like this, and she's overwhelmed by the feeling. Korra's tongue feels amazing, there's a salty-sweet taste and she's already addicted to it.

She shifts herself to a kneeling position, straddles Korra at the waist and places her hands to the side of that gorgeous face, pulling their lips together again. They kiss. She doesn't know for how long, and she doesn't care. She's lost in Korra, in everything.

Korra's hand sneaks beneath her open jacket, and the touch makes the hairs behind her neck stand on end. She's reminded that they're still clothed, it's something she wants to change, and soon. Suddenly she's on top of Korra, flicking her fingers under the clasps she knows are hidden just beneath the white trim. She advances down her top quickly, and in no time at all Korra's chest lies before her, covered by nothing but a few strips of white.

She leans in for another kiss, then pauses to sit up and lean her arms back, so that her loose-hanging jacket falls off, onto the bed. For the next part she holds Korra's gaze, surprised at her own bravery as she slowly pulls her vest upward, and over her head. She's still straddling Korra at her knees, and she has to supress a childish giggle at seeing Korra's almost innocent face, and the wide-staring eyes. She takes it as a compliment and raises an eyebrow, silently asking if Korra likes the view.

"You're gorgeous…" Korra's voice sounds hoarse, it's a sensual sound, one she hasn't heard from her before.

Her eyes are drawn to the perfectly formed abdomen in front of her, and it's very distracting, especially when there's a sheen of sweat glistening on it, and it just happens to belong to the most beautiful woman she's ever seen. She isn't sure when she moved, but she's leant forward now, nibbling into the flesh, delighting at the taste, and Korra's fingers are entwined in her hair this time. She can feel Korra's abdomen contract with every gasp and groan, addictive sounds that she wants to hear more of.

She takes Korra's hands and encourages her to sit up, where she kisses her again, and whilst their lips are locked she helps to remove the final barriers between them. Korra's top is removed easily, it falls to the edge of bed, then slides off to the floor. There's just the bindings left. She breaks from the kiss and starts to unravel them, biting her lip at the spectacle of one strip of flesh being revealed after the next.

Her breath becomes ragged as the last strip falls away. She's seen Korra naked before, but not like this. Not with those perfect breasts covered in tiny beads of sweat. Not with those nipples so erect, almost proudly inviting her mouth toward them. Her eyes are lidded, she's consumed by desire now, and subconsciously she's stroking a finger up Korra's still-gloved arm, forgetting for a moment her recent discovery about touching Korra there. Like this. She hears a deep growl, and risks a glance upward, where her breath catches in her lungs. Innocent blue has been replaced with a deep, almost black swirl. She's being pulled in, she can't look away…

Korra's on top of her now, and she isn't sure how it happened. She's attacked by a hungry mouth, peppered with kisses and bites down her neck, between her breasts. She's arching upward, she wants more, so much more. Korra answers her silent plea and latches her mouth onto her breast, and she cries out when she feels that thick, wet tongue rolling in circles, flicking across her nipple. Desperate whimpers turn into throaty groans as the other breast is tormented relentlessly by the thumb that's now above it, circling against the sensitive peak. It's too much. She thrusts her head back into the duvet, fists her hands into the sheets and clenches her lower lip between her teeth. She's trying to quieten the sounds escaping her lips, but she's not successful, and before she knows it she's surrendered herself to the moment, wrapping her legs around Korra's lower waist and pressing her centre against her, desperate for friction. She finds it, grinding herself into Korra's taut abdomen, and damn... she wishes she wasn't wearing pants right about now. She's sure she can hear Korra groan with every thrust of her hips, it's making her get even more carried away, and she's surprised at how good Korra's body feels against her even through her clothes. But then Korra pulls away, and she feels cold air in the absence of warm lips.

There's a pang of loss, but it's soon replaced with warmth when she's caught in a fierce kiss. She's guided into an upright position, their kiss never once breaking, and strong arms beneath her legs holding her in place. She wraps her arms around Korra's shoulders and pulls her into her frame, sealing their bodies, skin-on-skin for the first time. She can feel Korra's hips dance beneath hers now, she's gasping for air, it feels like she's on fire with the sensation of their hot, damp flesh squeezed so tightly together, and she can't help her whimpers of pleasure. She doesn't want this to end, she's lost in the feeling of Korra's skin, her clit throbs as she rocks her hips, and there's a sudden friction between Korra's nipples and her own… it's electric. It makes something inside of her snap.

She's like a different person, there's nothing but need inside of her now, and she's pushing Korra to the mattress because she wants to devour her bit by bit and literally nothing else matters.

Korra's hands splay into her hair, welcoming her advances as she swiftly takes her breast into her mouth. It's the first time she's tasted her flesh, and it's better than she could ever have imagined. She's running her tongue around Korra's stiff nipple, and biting it, she can hear Korra groaning deeply, and feel the sound vibrate under her lips. She rolls her tongue around, lashing, sucking, delighting further in the throaty sounds she's forcing Korra to make, they're causing a throb between her legs, and she can feel herself getting wetter.

She's so distracted by Korra's sounds, by the taste and the scent, that she barely notices she's sliding her hand down Korra's smooth, sleek abdomen. Her fingers stretch out and dig into the flesh there, she's unprepared for just how amazing those tight muscles feel. She delights in that part of Korra's body, but she soon wants more. Her hand moves further down, until it slips beneath the top of Korra's trousers, then further still, until she finds the top of Korra's underwear. Korra's fingers tighten into her hair as she traces a line across the material with her finger, and pulls it forward just enough to slip her hand beneath.

Korra's groaning louder now, and her fingers are kneading into her scalp. She's sent into a frenzy by the sounds she can hear, she moves her lips away from Korra's breast, sinks her teeth into that fucking irresistible neck, and at the same time slides her hand further down, past the gathering of a few thick hairs, and into warm folds of flesh. Korra's hands tighten even more, pulling at her hair. It almost hurts, but she really doesn't care.

"Asami…" Korra groans lustfully, and to hear her name being spoken like that... it almost _breaks_ her.

She pushes her hand a little further down, and she moans deeply as her fingers become completely enveloped in Korra's warm, slippery wetness. Hips thrust against her fingers, and Korra's hands move away from her hair, then claw at her back… she's overwhelmed, dizzying spikes are shooting up and down her spine. She traces her soaked fingertips upward, and rolls them in light circles above Korra's swollen clit.

"Ah… ah…" Korra's gasping, with eyes tightly closed. It's like a drug, something she could watch and listen to all day. She can't get enough of the noises she's hearing, of how good the wetness feels on her hand. She's drawn forward, and her hand remains in place as she presses their lips together. Korra's lips part, inviting her tongue inside, and she can feel Korra moan into her mouth, and she's doing the same, she can't stop herself. She's swirling her tongue in time with her fingers and she can feel the effect she's having, Korra's hips are moving erratically, and she's acutely aware of trembling in the arms at her back. She pulls away from the kiss, feeling that she should seek permission for her next wish.

"Korra…?" she's panting as she speaks the name.

"mmm?"

_"I want to taste you…"_

"Oh… yes… " Korra whimpers the words almost unintelligibly, and closed eyes crack open for a moment. There's a deep longing there, and she understands it perfectly, because she feels it too.

Before she knows it, she's leant forward and she's kissing Korra again, but this time not for long, because there's that neck to kiss… and then there's those shoulders. She feels Korra's fingers dig into her back as she works her way downward. She's at Korra's breast again, and can't help but dart her tongue around a nipple on the way past, at which Korra's torso visibly arches up off the bed, chest heaving.

She moves her lips downward, enjoying every scrap of flesh that she tastes on the way, and especially enjoying the ridges of that abdomen, rising and falling, trembling at her touch, as she bites and licks her way down. She's moments away now. She hooks her thumbs into Korra's pants and underwear, and with a little help, she tugs them off.

She's stunned, it takes a few moments for her to fully absorb the sight before her. Korra is exposed, and she's never seen anything quite so breath-taking. Tan flesh, glistening with a light coat of sweat from head to toe, and everywhere she looks, feminine curves fused with perfectly defined muscle. She's lost for words. She trails her fingertip across one of Korra's thighs, across her abdomen and then down the other leg. She looks down at Korra's sex, and feels a maddening desire consume her.

She leans toward Korra's lips, kissing her, and then she's kissing Korra's neck, biting, and delighting in the sounds that she's causing. She slides her hand between Korra's legs, where she gasps at the discovery that Korra's even wetter than just a few moments ago. She starts to slowly curl a finger inside the wet folds, and she cries out when she feels Korra's nails roughly scrape down her back.

It's enough to make her lose any remaining semblance of self-control. Her brows shift into a frown as she kisses her way quickly down the rest of Korra's body and toward her target, where she slides her hands behind Korra's thighs, encouraging them to part. She allows her hot breath to pant against Korra's sex, with her mouth an inch away. There's a moment, like a calm before a storm, and all she can hear is her own heart pounding loudly in her ears.

"Asami…" her name, being spoken like _that_ again. It snaps her to her senses.

Without any hesitation she dives her mouth straight into the glistening wetness in front of her, her tongue immediately finding Korra's swollen, stiff clit.

"Fuck!" Korra curses loudly, and Asami hears the tell-tale sound of fists clenching against bedsheets.

The taste is amazing, she's engrossed, she's licking circles around Korra's clit and pushing her tongue inside of that warm, wet centre, and Korra's clearly losing it because she can hear her groans, hear her try to form words and instead make guttural sounds. Korra's thighs are trembling with the exertions of their thrusts, and there's more wetness forming beneath her tongue.

She shifts her position slightly, gently holding Korra in place with her forearm, whilst stretching out two fingers on her other hand. She laps her tongue slowly across the length of Korra's clit, and there's a guttural sound in reward, which turns to a high pitched gasp when she first presses her fingers inside, feeling sparks shoot through her at the sensation of Korra's wetness, tight around her fingers.

"AH! Ah... Ohhh… " Korra's groans become more and more incoherent, and she's almost dunk from the sound.

Her groin throbs with every sexy grunt, growl and moan that she's hearing, and she knows that she's probably even wetter than Korra by now. She remains focused on the task she's set out to do, desperately trying to ignore how badly she wants to feel Korra's fingers inside of her.

She's thrusting her fingers slowly, but deeply, enjoying the slight shudder she feels inside each time. She can feel Korra's inner walls begin to tremble, clench slightly. She pulls her fingers almost completely out, then thrusts them inside of her, harder this time, causing a loud cry. She does it again, and then again, setting into a steady rhythm, which Korra's hips soon match. She presses her tongue firmly against Korra's clit, this time applying deeper, harder strokes, which Korra grinds against. She feels a new flood of wetness spill out, and nails stab into her back, causing her to hiss, but she enjoys the pain.

Wetness overflows onto her fingers and hand, she can hear Korra gasping for air, and it's becoming difficult to keep up with those almost madly bucking hips. She holds Korra down with more force, and speeds up her thrusts to meet the demands she's wordlessly received. She's overwhelmed at just how amazing Korra's body feels as she deeply pushes herself into her over and over, the wetness never ceasing to spill.

"Ah… A..ss.. Asa..mi…" Korra moans, "d.. don't stop…"

She feels Korra's inner walls begin to spasm, though there's so much wetness there it's hard to be certain. She's surer of it when Korra's arms move to her head and forcefully hold her down, locking her mouth and tongue in place. She feels Korra's insides clench tightly around her fingers, so she thrusts them in once more, and keeps them deep inside, allowing Korra to ride against them.

"OH!" Korra's almost crying in pleasure, and she's taken aback by how much she likes the sound…

"I'm… ah… AH!"

She feels fingers clutch her head tightly, and a violent eruption spasm against her fingers… it's hard to breathe with her head trapped like this, but she's feeling nothing but euphoria. She can tell that Korra comes _hard_ by the pressure squeezing against her fingers, there's groaning, sweating, panting, she can hear her name being called out, and there's so much wetness now...

She feels Korra's spasms gradually die down, and her head is eventually released from its grip. She stays exactly where she is for a while, feeling intoxicated by the scent and warmth there. Then, she slowly kisses her way back up Korra's torso, leaving spots of wetness along her body.

She sees that Korra's head is tilted back, and her eyes are closed. Other than the panting, she looks so peaceful. Her heart swells. To have heard Korra's voice cry out like that because of her touch, to have made the woman she loves spill over… she's got to fight back tears of happiness.

She lays beside Korra, props herself up on one elbow and drapes a leg across her abdomen, at which Korra's eyes slowly open, and there's a contented smile. Korra's arm stretches out, and a strand of her hair is trapped between idly-twirling fingers. They stay like that a while, she's lost in Korra's eyes, and she feels like she could stay like this forever.

Eventually, Korra breaks the silence.

"That was… erm. Wow." Korra half-croaks, half-chuckles.

"I know." She grins back at her.

Korra turns to face her, looking more serious all of a sudden.

"I mean… I've never felt… well, not like _that_."

She places a finger to her lips, tasting Korra. "Mmm. Me neither. Maybe we're just meant for each other?" She's half-joking, though secretly, she hopes it to be true.

She wonders if she's said something wrong - Korra's not answering, blue eyes are fixated on her fingers, and a hot flush rises to her cheeks as she realise she's openly licking the juices from them.

"Um, sorry, I'm thirsty…?" It's a terrible excuse, cheesy, embarrassing. She hates herself. She's even more flustered now, but then there's a throaty chuckle and Korra's right in front of her, wearing nothing but those damned sexy gloves, and she's pulled into that strong, warm frame again.

"For what it's worth, I think we are." Korra's mumbling the words right against her lips, and she's confused, because all she can think about is the ache between her legs.

"We are… what?" she croaks, weakly.

"Meant for each other."

Sometimes, Korra's confidence could be almost soul destroying. She's left on the bed alone for a moment, shell shocked as the pretty much fully-naked bender walks to the centre of the room and hunts through a cupboard. Two glasses are removed, and Korra moves swiftly back to the bed whilst neatly bending water out of the tap to fill them.

"You said you were thirsty?"

She nods mutely, accepts the glass, and drinks slowly whereas Korra seems to more or less inhale hers. Korra's watching her as she drinks, with one knee bent, held by a gloved arm. Once she's done, the glasses are set to the side, and there's this brief moment where they're just looking at each other… the air's thick, she can hardly breathe, and all she can think about is how much she wants Korra to consume her in every possible way.


	5. Connection

Korra's still in a daze from her recent experience, and her heart's fluttering every time she glances across at Asami. What that woman just did to her, well, she's never felt anything quite so intense, she's sure even the avatar state can't compare. She's trembling, weak at her knees, though she's trying her best to hide it...

Asami's staring right at her with half-lidded eyes, it's a sultry, hungry look, something that she never thought she'd get to see. Then there's those breasts, soft to the touch, and that little line trailing down the centre of Asami's abdomen… _wow_. She uses that word too much, even in her thoughts, but she thinks it's pretty damn apt right about now. She wants to reach out and touch the soft, inviting flesh before her, it's hard to resist, but then again, she doesn't have to… her heart skips a beat at the thought.

She's loved Asami for as long as she can remember, but she'd always been too scared to make a move. Before, she'd barely even flirted, except for the blush and snazzy-hair comment that one time, and even that was purely accidental, something to do with the way Asami had hugged her - it'd been just a touch too close for it to be platonic. And there'd been that scent of hers, the same perfume she's wearing now. Except this time, it's mingled with sweat, it's intoxicating… and Asami's right here, in front of her, and this time she's _allowed_ to touch.

Her throat's gone dry. Maybe she should have had more water. She's losing her confidence, she's not sure what to do, all she knows is she wants to do something. Anything. Everything. But what if she's too rough? What if she does something wrong?

"Korra, are you okay?" Asami breaks the silence, and she's grateful for the sound.

_"Are you okay?"_ She's been asked that so many times in the past, and at some point she figured something out… that she'd only ever answer genuinely if it was Asami asking. Once she'd realised that, she'd known her feelings were going somewhere well beyond friendship. _"Are you okay?"_ Asami did ask her it, a lot. It's true. And again, right now. It's like she's an open book and Asami is in her head, but she doesn't mind, because she's right where she wants to be.

"More than." Her voice sounds deeper somehow, perhaps it's just the dry throat.

She's watching as Asami's gaze trails across her body. She's naked, but she doesn't feel embarrassed... if anything, she enjoys the attention. She stretches her arms above her head, it's a faux stretch, her actual goal is to tense her torso and abdomen. She sees Asami bite into her lip and turn a deeper shade of pink, and she's grinning despite herself, she's loving the effect she can have.

Asami's suddenly on top of her. She didn't even register the movement, but now her arms are pinned to the bed and those green eyes are electric, staring right down at her. It's like they're challenging her somehow. She slides her hands behind Asami's back and leans up toward her for a long, deep kiss. She's surprised when Asami bites into her lower lip, it's an unexpected, sharp, sensual feeling. It's a good pain, and it makes her want Asami all over again, already, so soon.

"Again…" she utters the word without conscious thought, hears Asami's sharp gasp against her ear, and before she knows it she's threading her fingers into Asami's hair, and she's being assaulted with kiss after kiss, bite after bite.

Asami's mouth is relentless, she's losing track of where she's being kissed, licked, bitten, it's like it's everywhere at once, and before she knows it she's overwhelmed with need, she's arching herself upward, trying to push her breast further into Asami's mouth, and when she feels Asami's fingers slide inside of her again she's amazed, almost embarrassed, that she's coming, almost straight away, and it's even more intense than last time.

"As..a…mi" she's groaning the name out one syllable at a time, riding out the fiercest of waves, and she's so in love with this woman right now it's almost unbearable.

After the waves die down, she's feeling relaxed, peaceful, and maybe even a little selfish that she hasn't returned the favour yet.

She opens her eyes to see Asami's still above her, looking pleased with herself, self-assured, and there's a smirk forming at the corner of those gorgeous lips. Then Asami's trailing a fingertip down her arm, obviously knowing full-well by now the effect it has on her. The threads of self-control start to fall away, and she pulls Asami's head toward hers for a fierce kiss. Now her hands are on Asami's shoulders, and she's switched their position in no time, and Asami's wearing a very different look.

"Korra…" there's a hint of desperation. Asami's fingers snake around the back of her neck, causing hairs to stand on end. More threads snap.

She's trailing kisses around Asami's neck. It's coated with sweat, a taste of salt mixed with perfume, it's Asami through and through, an exquisite taste. She runs her tongue slowly up the porcelain neck, and feels a vibration beneath her tongue along with the sound of a low groan. She wants to hear it again. She flicks her tongue onto the soft stub of Asami's ear, then captures it in her teeth, and there it is again, that addictive, guttural sound… it's causing her to get wet all over again. She's surprised that's even possible.

There's a few threads left, controlling her, making sure she isn't too rough, doesn't do anything stupid. She's the avatar after all, and a part of her is still scared of what can happen when she's too emotional.

Asami's fingernails rake down her back, painful, searing, but it's so good, and she feels something not unlike the avatar state try to take hold, similar, but different. It's deeper, a pulsing need, it's the dark shameful secret she knows she has, the one where she wants to make Asami not just moan, but scream, beg for her. She's red in the face at the thought, she's sure that Asami doesn't work that way, even though the nails, and the way those eyes are looking at her would suggest otherwise.

Asami's doing it again. Stroking a fingertip slowly up her glove. Her forearms are tense since she's holding herself up, and it heightens the feel of the delicate touch. It's hard, she's gritting her teeth now, but she doesn't give in to temptation. The final thread won't snap. She won't let it. She's held herself back so far, she's sure she can find a way to make love to Asami without you know, potentially breaking her. She's got this.

That last thought, and the last thread, literally fly straight out of the window when Asami fists a hand into her hair, tightly enough to hurt, roughly pulls her head down and hisses several demands, tells her she's been waiting _three fucking years_ for this and she'd better not hold back or make her wait any longer, that she wants to come on her hand, into her mouth.

She's lost in the moment, at the words. No turning back now.

She pins Asami's wrists down above her head, there's a gasp and a look of nothing but desire, of wanting. Korra's thinking the look's so fucking sexy, it's almost unreal. But Asami's still wearing pants. Why are there pants? She's almost offended by the notion. She glides down Asami's torso and yanks the offending clothing off, underwear and all. She's pretty sure she air-bends them across the room. She feels a weird rumbling in her chest and realises it's her, she's growling, and it's probably because Asami's completely naked and those supple, smooth thighs are literally drenched, as is the small cluster of black hair that's between them.

There's really no conscious thought involved anymore. She's licking all around Asami's thighs, she doesn't even know how she got there, and she's scarcely surprised at all to find just how much she enjoys the salty-sweet taste. Asami's got fingers entwined in her hair, she can hear deep moaning, and there it is again, the desperation she heard earlier.

Once she's happy that she's licked Asami's thighs clean, she glances upward, silently seeking permission. Asami's looking right back down at her, eyes lidded, face flush. No words are needed, thighs fall open in invitation, and she dives her face straight between them, plunging her tongue deep inside of the wet centre. It's like nectar, she's lashing her tongue around that fantastically swollen clit, and the best part of it all has to be the sounds she's hearing. They're loud, guttural, her name's choked out between other, incoherent vowels.

She's loving every minute of it, especially the violent thrusts of Asami's hips, and the nails digging into her scalp, pulling her head down, almost threatening to pierce skin.

She wants more.

It's literally effortless for her to flip Asami onto her side, she really doesn't know her own strength. She bites into the damp flesh at Asami's back, folds her arm over the dip at Asami's waist, and roughly squeezes her hand into a pert breast, toying with the nipple under her thumb. Asami's moaning loudly, writhing against her frame, and into her hand.

She slides her other arm between the mattress and Asami's torso, where she finds the second, neglected breast, and she pulls herself forward, so that the flesh of her torso, her breasts, are skin-tight to Asami's back. She's tightly gripping, teasing Asami's breasts in both hands, and fuck, Asami's gasping, whining, arching back into her, grinding against air. She's melting at the sounds, there's an ache between her legs but she's putting her own needs to one side because wants to blow Asami's mind, drive her so far off the edge that she's screaming her name.

It's with regret that she moves her hands away from their soft, succulent prey, but she's got bigger plans. She shifts herself down Asami's back a little, kissing and biting along the way, then moves her left hand above Asami's clit, and, shit… it really is soaking wet there. She's groaning just as much as Asami now, can't help herself. Asami's hips are bucking up into her hand, and she's gritting her teeth because this is too much, it's making her want to come again.

She takes her right hand and without further pause, slides it between the back of Asami's sleek, glistening thighs, then up, until she's pressing a finger inside of damp, welcoming folds. Then she's inside of her. She hasn't felt anything quite like it, other than with herself, but this is very different. It's hot, wet, squeezing against her finger. She's inside Asami, and there's this unexplainable connection now, it's breath-taking, she almost wants to cry.

"Korra…" it's almost a plea. She's lost in the moment.

She slides a second finger in, deeply, and increases the pressure of her other hand, rolling firm circles against the wet clit beneath. Asami's ass is rocking back and forth, welcoming her hands, thrusting back into her fingers, and she's feeling shudders inside, already. There's no point taking this slowly, Asami's on the edge, she can feel it, and she can definitely hear it. She holds Asami's clit firmly with one hand, allowing hips to rock against it, and with the other hand, her soaked fingers thrust deeply, quickly, and _hard_. Asami's bucking into every single thrust, moaning louder than ever.

"Fuck… fuck…Korra!" Asami's cursing, grunting her name whilst she's plunging herself inside, and she's feeling like her hearts going to explode if it beats any harder. There's a sudden increase in momentum, so she thrusts deeper, harder still, but keeps the pace Asami sets because that's important now, she knows it, she's experimented enough alone to know exactly how this goes. And then, Asami's literally fucking crying out her name, she's feeling a warmth at her chest threatening to overwhelm her, there's muscles tightly clamping around her fingers, and she knows to keep them in there now, as deeply as she can. There's wetness splitting out, and Asami's hand has reached back somehow, and it's pulling at her hair, and it might hurt but she couldn't give a shit. She's watching as Asami rocks out what must be the longest orgasm she's ever seen, or felt. It's spectacular.

Asami's torso collapses suddenly, and there's panting now, gasps from both of them, and they're both caked in sweat. Korra hadn't even realised, but she'd been holding her breath for the last minute. She keeps her arms around Asami, with one arm at her chest, between her breasts where she can feel her heart beating. She's holding Asami closely, wordlessly, her lips pressed into her back, inhaling the scent, savouring the taste.

"Wow…"

Asami's copying her earlier reaction. It's cute.

"Wow." She's happy to agree. It's a suitable word. She sighs, contentedly, as she feels Asami's hand close onto hers, entwining their fingers. It's a nice position to lay in, she's cupping most of Asami's body into hers, like she's some kind of bigger spoon.

Her hearts almost spilling over, she knows what the feeling is, though she's never felt it this intensely before. She loves this woman, with everything that she is, she loves her. But she can't say the words. What right does she have, after she abandoned her for all that time? It's one thing to be told there's no need to apologise, but it's another to accept it. She'll make it up to Asami somehow, she swears it to herself.

::

Asami's short of breath. Her hearts pounding, she's shocked. That was her first climax, or at least, first with another person. It's one thing to find the buttons on your own. It's another to have the woman of your dreams find almost every single one of them and press them all at the same time, and press them better, deeper than you ever have. How's that even possible? She's searching her mind for a scientific answer, she's got nothing.

"You're amazing…." Korra's words, purred right against her skin. It tickles, so she laughs and squeezes Korra's hand.

"You're not so bad yourself." Understatement. She feels Korra chuckle at her words, and there's a fresh tug of desire when she realises Korra's breasts are crushed up against her back.

Her entire body's still throbbing with the aftermath. Suddenly, her half-joke about them being meant for each other, it seems a lot less corny and a lot more real. She loves Korra, it's not a new revelation or anything, but she's still scared to come out and say it. She's playing with Korra's fingers, and the words are right there, in her chest. She doesn't speak them, she can't. There's always the chance that this isn't as deep a thing for Korra, and she's not going to risk being hurt again, not just yet.

For now, she's happy with this, what they've just shared, and surely Korra's feeling the same.

Suddenly, her belly growls, possibly loudly enough to wake any spirits within a mile, and she feels Korra rock in quiet laughter behind her. She's a little sad when the warm body that's been embracing her this whole time pulls away, but then Korra's propped herself up on an arm right in front of her, and they're staring into each other's eyes, and she's more than happy.

"Hungry?" Korra's being sarcastic. She swats her arm.

"Maybe. Do you think there's anything here? I brought some rations if not."

"Always ever-so prepared." Korra's teasing her. She likes it. It's about then that she realises she's stark naked, and she's about to get embarrassed about it, but then Korra casually hops off the bed and starts to walk around the house, exploring every cupboard, bare ass naked, like it's nothing. She decides to sit back and enjoy the view.

"Okay, we've got eggs, and I think this is bacon," Korra holds up something fatty, pink, and wavy, grinning.

"Wait, you can cook?" This is news, she's never really seen Korra in any domestic circumstances.

"Can I cook…!?" Korra looks incredulous and folds her arms, scowling at the question, before pulling a couple of pans out of a cupboard.

"I've just never seen you do it," She's intrigued, she shifts her position so that she's laid on her belly and propped up on her forearms. She's very interested in watching Korra now, and she's stifling back a giggle because Korra looks so serious, but is literally wearing nothing but gloves.

"I taught myself whilst I was… recovering. At Mum and Dad's. There wasn't a lot else to do and I found it, hmm, strangely therapeutic." Korra's face takes on a more sombre look whilst she's talking. Eggs are cracked open, then carefully poured into a hot pan.

"Shit, ow!" Korra yelps in pain, hopping away from the sudden sizzling.

"Maybe you shouldn't be stood over a pan of oil, stark naked?" she asks, making her way toward Korra to check she's okay. Although, she thinks nude cooking is a great idea, so long as she can spectate rather than partake.

She bends down and checks Korra's abdomen for any burns, but then she's kissing it, running her tongue across the sleek skin, she doesn't even know how it happened, and all kinds of sparks are re-igniting inside of her. From the way Korra's suddenly tensing up and breathing more rapidly, she knows it isn't just her.

"Put out the stove." She growls onto Korra's flesh, she's suddenly not feeling very hungry anymore.

She hears the flame extinguish, then stands up, violently pushes Korra toward the nearest counter top, lifts her onto it, and fiercely closes their lips together. She pulls Korra's thighs to either side of her waist, and pushes herself forward, feeling Korra's wetness against her abdomen. She doesn't need food, because she's going to devour Korra, right here on this counter. She's surprised at her thoughts, Korra's bringing out a side of her she didn't even know she had…

… And she's loving every minute of it.


	6. Confession

Asami drifts into consciousness, and finds herself immediately breaking into an involuntary grin. Korra's still in her arms, pretty much exactly where they fell asleep, and there's some loud snoring emanating from those sexy lips. She idly rungs a fingertip along Korra's arm. It's bare now… at some point the gloves finally came off last night, though she really can't remember the specifics.

She's feeling sore, in her legs and arms, her chest, and in places that she didn't even know existed… it's like she's done a two day work-out at the gym. She laughs to herself at the thought, and tries to stretch out her stiff limbs, without waking Korra. Her attempt to be subtle doesn't work.

"Snnnrt? I… didn't… eat the waffles." Korra's sleep talking. It makes her heart melt, although she's laughing at the same time.

Korra turns to face her, and she feels flutterbees dance in her stomach when she meets the icy-blue gaze.

"Hey, beautiful." She says, stroking Korra's cheek.

"Hey yourself, snazzy lady…" Korra yawns. "Do you want breakfast? I'm starving."

"mmHmm, I'm hungry too. But you should probably put clothes on this time." She recalls what happened the last time they tried to eat, but she's sure she can keep her hands to herself this time. Maybe.

She grabs her backpack, rummages around for her nightgown and puts it on. Then she watches Korra. It shouldn't be possible for a person to be this attractive, when they're clumsily stumbling across the room pulling on slacks and a t-shirt. Nor should it be possible when they're cooking… just cooking, cracking an egg, focusing intently on said egg. She's almost caught in a trance, focused on every single movement and facial expression, and every time Korra looks over, she feels heat rise to her cheeks.

"Breakfast is served!" Korra proclaims, proudly, whilst setting out their food. It smells amazing, and she's suddenly feeling almost famished.

She sits at the table, grins as she takes a plate and helps herself to two slices of toast, two strips of bacon and an egg. It's delicious… she's pleasantly surprised, Korra really can cook, and she's suddenly curious as to what other secrets she's yet to discover. It's no secret that Korra eats like a pig, that's for sure. She's struggling to hold back a giggle as Korra stuffs more and more food into her mouth.

"Hey, guess what…" Korra thankfully empties her mouth before talking, "I have some _awesome_ stuff planned for today!"

"Oh, do tell?"

"It's a surprise. I think you'll like it."

She cleans her plate, then heads to the bathroom, playfully fighting Korra off because they'll definitely never leave the place if they wash together. Whilst she scrubs herself, she's suddenly amused at the notion that she's inside a bathroom, within a house that apparently popped up out of nowhere, just for them. She tries not to dwell on this, as it makes no scientific sense, and nor does any of the spirit world, for that matter.

Once she's done, she swaps places with Korra, again having to fight off some seriously suggestive advances, giggling the whole time. Then she searches around the room for her scattered clothes, and smiles when she hears Korra humming away to herself in the washroom.

As she's getting dressed, she thinks back to last night, and there's a few shudders suddenly going up and down her spine. She's sure she's never been this happy before, there's a constant buzz, a rush, running through her whole body.

The bathroom door swings open, and she finds herself staring again as Korra starts to strip and change into outdoor gear, slowly. Korra is being a tease, putting on a show, dressing slowly, and smirking every time she absent-mindedly bites her lip.

"Well then, shall we?" Korra holds out a hand which she doesn't hesitate to take, and then they head outside together.

They walk in silence for a while, and she's trying not to freak out every time the spirit world morphs into a different place right before her eyes, or at the fact that their temporary accommodation vanished from sight almost as soon as they'd set off. The world shifts again, and they're suddenly walking across a large, green meadow, but Korra seems happy, and confident, so she trusts in her. But still, it can't hurt to ask…

"So, where are we going?" she purrs, whisking herself in front of Korra and using her thumb to push back a few sexy, short brown strands of hair.

"Well, if you keep doing that, probably nowhere." Korra breathes, the tone of the voice more than a little alluring.

"Korra, no. We're in the middle of a giant, open field…!" she giggles. It's a nice field though... the grass looks soft, warm and inviting. She's just considering tackling Korra to the ground, when there's a loud, frightening caw up ahead. She looks up, and what appears to be some kind of dragon, or bird, is headed straight toward them.

"Err... Korra?" She asks, nervously, getting ready to run. Then there's a squeeze at her hand.

"It's fine. Trust me." Korra looks back, smiles at her. She tries to stop the panic welling inside, Korra probably knows what she's doing, she hopes.

Sure enough, the giant dragon-bird lands in front of them, and then Korra's laughing and stroking it on the beak.

"You know him?" Asami's in awe. Korra's tamed a dragon?

"Her. And yeah, we go way back. Did I never tell you the story?"

"Not this one." Asami realises again, there's so much to learn about Korra… so much.

"Well, hop on, I'll tell you all about it!"

Hop on…? Wait, Korra wants her to _fly_ on that thing? She's suddenly feeling a sense of dread, looks at the ground and fidgets her feet. An airplane is one thing, but a living creature that can shake you off any time it deems fit is quite another. And what if it sneezes? Ooops, there you go, falling down ten thousand feet to your certain death.

"Uh, Asami?" Korra's walking over to her.

She's sure this is a rational fear, any transportation that isn't mechanical, it's scary, unpredictable. It took long enough for her to trust Naga, though the first time she rode her it was out of desperation, when she'd tried to rescue a mediating Korra.

Korra's bent down, and looking up at her. She's feeling embarrassed, doesn't want to admit her phobia.

"You don't have to. Honestly, I just thought you might enjoy it, flying, that is." Korra's grinning at her now, and she's feeling herself coming around to the idea.

"But… what if we fall?" Might as well just ask, worse that can happen is Korra laughs at her.

"Asami." Korra takes her hand, wears a serious expression, "I'd never let anything happen to you. You know that, right?"

She laughs. Of course, Korra's the avatar, as well as an expert air bender. Sometimes, she just forgets these things, because to her, she's just Korra – an amazing woman that she's fallen in love with.

"Well okay then…" Asami takes Korra's hand, allows herself to be pulled up behind her onto the bright gold mane. It's weird, feeling the texture of fur, and warm scales, in the place of leather and the deep hum of an engine.

"Now hold on tight, and I mean _reaaaally_ tight!" Korra shouts. She doesn't need to be told twice, she's got her arms wrapped so tightly around Korra she might snap her waist in half, and that's before they've even left the ground.

Then there's a sudden shift, a massive, loud pound as the dragon thrusts its feet into the floor and slams its wings downwards, and a rush of air as she's pushed backward by the force of the lift. Then then they're climbing, climbing faster than she's ever moved in her life. She's clinging onto Korra for dear life now, screaming, whilst she can feel Korra laughing.

Eventually, the death-climb stops, and it feels like they're in a steady glide. She prises one eye open and gasps, suddenly struck with awe. Beneath them there's an endless expanse of colour, meadows of yellow, purple and white, and rivers of green and blue. It really is another world, a massive, alien world, and there's so much that she wants to find out about it.

She allows her vice-grip on Korra to relax a little, starts to really take in the sight, and she's thrilled by the sensation of wind rushing through her hair.

"Do you like it?" Korra's looking back at her, wearing a gigantic grin.

"Like it? I love it!" she shouts across the strong air currents.

They stay up there a while. Korra tells her all about how she met the dragon-bird, how the spirit world turned her back into a child for a short time, and many other tales of wonder that she struggles to believe, but she knows Korra wouldn't lie. And besides which, they're flying, in a different world, on a giant spirit bird-dragon. She feels she'd be a hypocrite to question anything at this point in time.

The next thing she knows, Korra's telling her to hold on tight again, and she's caught in a series of aerial acrobatics, sharp, fast dives followed by breath-taking climbs. It's terrifying… amazing, _exciting_. Frightened screams become childish giggles, and before she knows it, she's demanding more. Korra's happy to oblige, and they're thrown into a spinning dive which sends her dizzy. Then they're gliding again… She pulls herself into Korra, squeezing tightly, pressing her cheek into her back. Her heads spinning, but she's never had so much fun.

::

Eventually, it's time to land, and Korra's feeling ecstatic that her first surprise for Asami went so well. She could see that there'd been a _lot_ of nervousness at first, but Asami really got into it, and had asked for all kinds of crazy new stunts, most of which they'd done. She'd drawn the line at an inverted loop, though. Even she'd be nervous at that one.

They both dismount, then she pats the dragon-bird on the head, thanks her sincerely, and waves good-bye as she flies away.

"Korra… that was… something else." Asami's grinning at her. And her hairs a mess, she's trying not to laugh but it's _really_ a mess, and it's the first time she's actually seen it be anything other than perfect.

"Is something the matter?" Asami raises an eyebrow.

"Nothing." She snorts the word and covers her mouth. _Woops. _

"Korra." Asami's folding her arms now, she's not fooled.

She walks up to Asami, and runs her fingers through the frizzed up, wild and messy black hair, trying to straighten it out.

"I've just never seen your hair look anything other than perfect. It tickled me." She's still holding back a laugh.

"Oh… is that so?" Asami says, reaching an arm out and violently ruffling her hair.

"Very much so!" she tackles Asami to the ground and unleashes a counter attack, messing up that perfect black hair more than it's ever been messed up before.

"Why you little!"

"Who you calling little? I'm the avatar!" she raises an eyebrow at her messy-haired prey, in defiance. But then Asami's tickling her, her only weakness, and now it's… game over.

"haha! Stop! Mercy!" she's crying, she's at Asami's mercy and she can't even control her limbs enough to defend herself.

Asami eventually relents, clearly a merciful goddess, then sits up and smiles down at her.

"I'm… having a wonderful time. Thanks, Korra." There's a small flush on Asami's cheeks as she says it, it's really endearing. She sits up and kisses Asami, just a peck on the lips.

"I'm just glad you're here with me. And also, I haven't finished yet."

"Oh?"

"Nope, follow me." She stands, dusts off her clothes and stretches out her hand.

She's learnt how to navigate in the spirit world by now, it's a natural thing to her. She simply works out where she wants to be, visualises it, and walks. So it's of no surprise at all when they soon end up at the beautiful oasis she's stumbled upon in the past.

"Wow, Korra…"

"I know, right?" she's grinning. It's quite the spectacle… a waterfall gushes down from an impossibly-high cliff, cascading into a crystal clear pool. There's spirits all around, lush vegetation, and the thing that she loves the most of all are the scents here, it's like a mild perfume, lavender, a little salt, and pine. It's always reminded her a bit of Asami, though she isn't sure why.

She performs a couple of fisted upward arm-flicks to pull a make-shift bench and table from the earth.

"Wait here…" she releases Asami's hand, giving it a quick squeeze of reassurance first, before she heads to the lake ahead. She stops to focus for a moment, getting a feel for the water and everything within, then suddenly tugs her arm toward her chest, yanking a thin stream of water out, and with it, a nice, fat, juicy fish.

"Hah! Scooore." She grins, holding her jiggling prey aloft.

Asami's clapping and cheering behind her, and she's feeling an adrenaline rush.

"I'll build a fire." Asami says, and starts to collect twigs, leaves and wood from the vicinity. It doesn't take long, and there's soon a nice pyramid-shaped fire, waiting to be lit. Asami's obviously had some experience in this kind of thing, the revelation of which surprises her.

"So, you know outdoor survival stuff?" she asks, as she crouches close to the fire and gently coaxes it to life with a small burst of flame-breath.

"Hmmm. A bit, Dad used to arrange for all kinds of lessons..." Asami's looking at her with an almost unreadable expression.

"Uh, should I… not use bending?" she's never been quite sure where Asami stands on the matter, now that she thinks about it. Sure, using it in battle is one thing, but what about day-to-day, like this?

Asami laughs, "Since when have I ever had a problem with your bending, Korra? Honestly, I was just thinking how… sexy it is."

"Really?"

"mmHmm" Asami rests her chin on her hand, "especially that little bit of fire-breathing you just did."

"Heh, duly noted." She's blushing at the compliment, and the fire's burning along quite nicely now.

Korra cooks the fish to perfection, and she's feeling very proud of herself when she watches Asami hungrily tuck into it.

"Is it good?" she asks, her mouth half full.

"Vewy!" Asami's cheeks are full of food.

Korra bursts out laughing, Asami's swatting at her in protest, and she's feeling overwhelmed again by just how much she's in love.

She's sure she doesn't deserve this, doesn't deserve Asami at all… not after she abandoned her. Guilt stabs her heart at the thought, and she ends up eating the rest of her meal in silence… she's not really hungry anymore.

::

Korra's being… oddly quiet.

"Hey… Korra?" She's nervous, for the first time since they came here. They've had a delicious meal, there's a spectacular sight in front of them, there's spirits all around and whilst she can't deny that it's beautiful, all she's doing right now is fret that there's something the matter. Korra's not looking at her. Not talking to her.

The sky's getting darker. She's sure it's going to rain or something, and she's starting to feel a bit of panic at Korra's continued silence. Then she remembers.

"The sky's getting gloomy, I know what this means, you told me about it…"

Korra looks up at the sky, and she can see there's tears. Why is Korra crying? What's going on?

She puts her hand atop Korra's. She wonders what on earth has happened to change Korra's mood so suddenly. Did she push things too far last night? Too much, too soon?

"I'm sorry…" Korra's voice breaks, it's heart-wrenching to hear.

"Korra, you need to tell me what's wrong…" she entwines their fingers, tries to look into Korra's eyes, but they're looking away.

"This was supposed to be a special day, now I've ruined it."

She sits, listens, and lets Korra speak. Sometimes that's all that you need to do.

Korra releases her hand and stands, then starts to pace. She wants to reach out and touch her, but she holds back. She continues to sit and listen. That's what she forces herself to do, and what she's done so many times before, for Korra at least.

Suddenly, Korra stands still and turns to face her, and she's shocked by the vulnerability shown in those amazing, captivating eyes. It's a pure, exposed look. She's never seen Korra this this.

"'Sami… last night was… I can't even…" she doesn't even notice the nickname, not consciously. She stands up, takes Korra's hand again, and squeezes it. She's hoping whatever this is, they can work through it, because otherwise, she thinks she might actually die. She's feeling tears well at her cheek, without even knowing what the hell's wrong.

"…It was the single greatest moment of my life." Korra continues, and is still looking away. _Me too!_ She wants to say, _me too, and I love you so much it hurts, you damn dork._ She stays silent, squeezes Korra's hand more tightly, dreading what could come next. Whatever it is, she wants it over with. _Just speak, Korra_. She wills it with her mind, like it can make a difference somehow.

"I don't deserve you." Korra states, turning away. Asami's heart melts. She's had enough of being the distant listener… she can't do it anymore. She closes the small gap between them, and wraps her arms around Korra's shoulders. And there, she can feel Korra shuddering in her embrace, crying.

"I left you…"

Asami closes her eyes.

"Korra… we've talked about this, its fine. I'm fine." She isn't sure why this is coming up again.

"No." Korra's pulled away from the hug to face her, with damp eyes. She absent-mindedly wipes away Korra's tears.

"We'd just started to… or at least, I'd just started to… and then, _Zaheer_..." Korra spits the last part. She's trying to put together the fractured pieces of Korra's words, and she has an idea what it could be, but she doesn't dare think for a moment she could be right. Still, she lets Korra speak.

"I… I knew it even back then. I was just a coward." Finally, Korra's talking, letting it out. She listens some more.

"I knew it right back when we built that damn desert raft. I _knew_ it." Korra takes her wrist in a strong but not painful grip, stares intently into her eyes.

"I fell for you... I've loved you ever since then, and… I did _nothing_. And then I got hurt, and I ran away, and I didn't even fucking write to you! I tried, _I tried_... but what kind of an excuse is that?"

The weather's turned stormy now, but she's not paying much attention anymore. Tears are streaming out of those perfect blue eyes, and though the words are an absolute revelation, she can digest the impact of it all later. All she can think about right now, is comforting Korra.

She pulls Korra into her arms again, holds her tight, strokes her hair.

"I told you, I don't deserve you..." Korra's sniffling into her chest, which at this moment in time, feels like it's about to burst.

"You've got it all wrong, Korra." She's smiling, still stroking Korra's hair, and tears are falling down her cheeks too, "It's me that doesn't deserve you."

Korra leans back, looks about to interrupt her, but she places a finger on her lips.

"Do you really think a woman in my position couldn't have found a way to visit during that time? I was _scared_, Korra. I'd already asked to follow you, and you said no, so I thought it best to stay away. In truth, I was terrified that if I did turn up you'd reject me. I put myself first. I should have come to you regardless… you were suffering, so much."

Korra sniffs against her chest, mumbling, "I did tell you I needed to be alone, to be fair."

"Would you have turned me away?"

"No…"

_Hindsight's a wonderful thing_, she muses. They're silent for a while.

"I fell for you at the same time. Back at the desert." She confesses the truth, and it's like a massive weight falls off her shoulders. She feels Korra's body stiffen at the words.

"You mean…?" Korra's looking up at her, eyes brimming with hope. It's beautiful.

"I… I love you too." She smiles, then slowly presses her lips into Korra's for a tear-stained kiss, where she can feel that Korra's wearing a huge smile too. She breaks away slightly, laughing and crying at the same time, "I love you." She says it a second time, nudging their noses together.

Then Korra's kissing her again, and she's suddenly weak at her knees, falling to the floor in Korra's arms. "I love you…" she whispers for a third time, as Korra kisses her neck gently, and she surrenders herself to those lips without so much as a flicker of hesitation.

It's not the same as last night.

They undress each other slowly, between tender kisses. They're patient, softly trailing hands and lips across every inch of one another's body. There's gasps of pleasure, whispers of their hearts desires, of their love, of their names. Fingers entwine with fingers, and into each other's hair. Thighs lock against thighs, bodies writhe, and there's an eventual, shuddering, unified release.

Afterwards, Asami drapes her jacket around them both, and they sit by the still-glowing fire, tightly wound in each other's arms. Korra's head is upon her chest, and she's slowly running her fingers through the brown locks of hair. No more words need to be spoken, and their tears, this time, are from sheer happiness.


	7. Training

There's countless tendrils flickering across the plane, but they're all too far away… some are gold, or white, symbolising joy, happiness. He struggles to not choke in disgust at the thought. Then there's the red ones – anger, and his personal favourite – black, pain. He feeds from them, delighting in their energy, and occasionally tries to latch onto one, but they're too far away.

He'd scream in frustration, if he still had a physical form. Instead, as always, he'll have to wait, wait for as long as it takes for him to recover his strength, so that he can reach, reach as far as he needs to…

Then, something peculiar captures his eye. It's not like the other tendrils. It's longer, thicker, a spiral of black and red, tinged with silver. He reaches out to taste it, and it's _delicious_, like nothing he's ever known. Fear, pain, futility, anger… _rage_. He doesn't even try to latch onto it, he's pulled into it, travelling down it, through it, piercing the vale between worlds.

He's pulled further and further along the thread, and then finally at its end he's thrust within the host, where he feeds hungrily on the delicious black, red and silver bubbling within.

::

"Oof!" she winces as Asami's gloved fist punches her not-so-gently between her ribs.

She feigns a stumble, swiftly wraps her legs around her attacker's waist, and with a quick twist of her hips, she flings Asami to the ground, straddling her and pinning her arms above her head.

Asami's staring up at her, panting, with a lop-sided smile, and teeth captured in sultry-red lips. It's a delicious look, she can't help but be pulled into it, and she groans when she feels Asami's lips respond to hers the second that they touch. She's vaguely aware of Shiro's voice booming across the arena.

"And it looks like the Avatar is attempting to suffocate the CEO, with her... mouth! Korra wins the point, making the score one point each! Who would have known they'd be so evenly matched, folks?"

Applause and cheers rise in volume throughout the spectator stands.

Asami presses both palms into her chest, thrusting her away, laughing and then kicking out and flipping back to her feet

"Korra! It's a fight, behave yourself!" There's a glint in Asami's eye," Next point is mine, get ready to eat dirt!"

"Oh, we'll see about that!" She quickly jumps to her feet, and gestures two fingers to Asami, in a beckoning motion.

There's a menacing look in Asami's remarkable green eyes, and before she knows it, she's under attack.

_Right leg_. She senses the movement rather than seeing it, and raises her forearm to her head, deftly blocking the kick with a loud thud, and she's impressed at Asami's strength as she's pushed back from the impact.

Asami's fist blurs toward her chest, coming in for a jab, but there's an opening at her assailant's waist, which she quickly exploits with a swift roundhouse kick. Asami dances to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, then somehow there's a hand at her chest, she finds her shirt grabbed, and the next thing she knows she's thrown over Asami's shoulder in a dizzying blur.

"What a throw! Another point to Asami! That's two to one, folks!" The crowd erupts into loud cheers again.

She's lying face-up on the floor, not even sure how she got there. She's seen Asami fight before, so she should have known what to expect, though this is the first time she's been on the receiving end of Asami's almost-feline grace. She rubs her mouth with the back of her fist, panting.

Asami reaches a hand toward her, and she holds the intense, amused gaze as she's lifted back to her feet.

"You never cease to amaze me, Miss Sato." she grins. Despite her initial reservations, she's thoroughly enjoying the event.

As she sprints towards her contender with her legs coiled, ready to launch her next attack, she thinks back to their argument last week, the thing that started all this.

::

"FINE! Let's fight!" Asami yells, slamming a hand on the workbench, glaring at her.

Asami looks beyond pissed off, and she can't really blame her. She's watched her fight with that stupid hummingbird mark-two all day, with the occasional curse about how the circuitry somehow managed to fry itself, and after she fixed that, apparently, _"the bloody capacitors melted!"_

"Wait, what? What did I do?" she asks, feeling a mix of fear and confusion. She's not entirely sure what she's done to provoke the sudden rage.

"If you think you can beat me in a fair fight, there's only one way to find out." Asami seethes, smacking the metallic foe with a wrench, causing its faceplate fell to the floor with a loud clang.

"Argh!"

Suddenly, things start to click into place. She thinks she knows where Asami is going with this.

"What? 'Samiii, come on, I didn't even mean it that way…" she tries her best puppy-eyed look, but can see from Asami's expression that it won't work this time.

"You said, and I quote: 'Do you want me to train you?'"

"I asked you that because you said you were fed up of being stuck here all day! I thought you might like to stretch your legs, work off some of that anger!"

"You said it because you think you're even in a position where you _can_ train me. Which part of me growing up through my entire childhood learning martial arts didn't you understand? Take away your bending and I'd tear you to pieces!"

Asami shoots her a vicious stare, pouting and prodding a fingertip into her chest.

"Let's arrange a public fight. I'll let the world see that I can knock you down a peg or two."

She's amazed at just how badly she wants to kiss the angry beast-woman in front of her, bend Asami over that workbench and… wow, she's just realised that she's _fiercely_ attracted to Asami's more aggressive side. She involuntarily steps forward, suddenly caught in a lustful daze, but then Asami's hand is on her face, holding her back.

"No chance."

_Damn._ Well, she supposes it serves her right. She's made the mistake of forgetting just how proud Asami is, and the even bigger mistake of forgetting that massive competitive streak. It's something she'd first seen when Asami, with an almost manic look, nearly knocked that poor guy off the racetrack... back when they'd first started to become friends.

She sighs. All she can do now is go along with it, and hope for the best. She wants to say "but what if I hurt you?", but she knows that'll make Asami even angrier, and even more defensive. She shudders at the thought, and instead she volunteers an idea that's just sprung to mind.

"How about we do it to raise money to help with the rebuilding and re-homing? Ask people to donate to watch, I mean. And I think it might really cheer the citizens up too, give them some entertainment for once."

Asami's expression softens a little.

"That's... that's actually not a bad idea."

Asami places a finger against those luscious lips of hers, eyes cast deep in thought.

"Let me talk to the mayor and see if we can re-prioritise your duties into getting the old pro-bending arena rebuilt. And let's get some flyers up around the city."

She breathes a sigh of relief. Demon-Asami avoided, for now at least.

"Deal!" she puts her hand out, and Asami takes it.

"Deal." There's a smile creeping to the corner of Asami's mouth, "And don't you dare go easy on me, because the spirits know I won't return the favour."

::

She watches, half-amused, as Korra digs her toes into the sand and leaps towards her.

She knows that Korra will go for an all-out attack next, because she knows that Korra hates to be on the losing side of any match. She smiles at the notion it's just another thing they have in common, and switches her form to a defensive stance, where she meticulously parries Korra's blows, using her forearms to sweep and block every incoming attack.

She winces a little at the relentless attacks, and she can feel herself being pushed gradually towards the out-of-bounds area, but if she can hold out just a little longer, find that one small opportunity... there it is! She thrusts her hand forward, thudding it firmly against at Korra's chest.

"How..?" Korra gasps, as she smirks, grabs the deep-blue vest, grips tightly, twists and throws her opponent clear over her head. She sees Korra grinning back at her, mid-flight, and she can't help but raise an eyebrow, giving her best _I told you so_ look, before Korra lands on the floor with a crash.

"Sato is Victorious! Two points to one! Who could have guessed that the Avatar would crumble before the might of our own Future Industries CEO?" The crowd ruptures into violent applause, standing on their feet, cheering wildly.

She helps Korra to her feet, feeling a little bad for the heavy landing.

"Are you okay? Sorry about that…"

Korra grins back at her.

"I'm more than okay, you were amazing!"

They leave the area, hand in hand, with grateful smiles all around from their new-found fans, cheering them on as they walk.

"Seriously, you were amazing, I couldn't even get two points on you!" Korra laughs, wraps an arm around her waist.

"So you didn't go easy on me?" She asks, flicking her hair behind her ears as she wraps her arm around Korra's shoulder.

"Of course not," Korra pouts, "I just rely on my bending normally, I guess."

She twists her fingers into Korra's hair. "Well, I guess since I'm the first RCMA champion, I could always help you brush up on your non-bending combat techniques?" she asks, smirking.

"You mean, train me?" Korra laughs at her intentional irony as they walk into the locker rooms.

Once they're inside, she turns around and locks the door behind her, and then faces Korra, forming the wickedest grin she can muster. Korra's looking back, wide eyed. She licks her lips, walks forward slowly.

"I was thinking, that maybe the training could start _now_." She purrs, raises an eyebrow suggestively, and struggles to not giggle at the blush forming on Korra's face.

Today's their first day off since returning from the spirit world two months ago, and she's rarely had any intimate moments with Korra during that time. She's been busy planning and attending meetings every day, as well as helping out in the field. Korra's been out bending the city back into shape, day in and day out, repairing street after street, and home after home.

She intends to make the most of their free time. She's right in front of her prey now, and presses a palm against Korra's shoulder, pushing her back against the lockers.

"You're blushing." She teases, twirling a finger around her victim's hair, "Where on earth is your mind, Avatar Korra?" she continues, wiggling an eyebrow playfully, before shifting a glance sideways, and pointing her thumb towards the gymnasium door.

"We're training, remember?" She laughs, playfully, as she releases Korra from her grip.

"You're such a tease." Korra huffs at her. It's so very endearing, but she'll control her more primal urges, for now.

She's excited to see that the gym is still intact. Pretty much everything is in place, but there's a few new cracks on the walls here and there.

"All right Korra," She stands in the centre of the gym, places her hands on her hips and shoots Korra her best 'I mean business' look.

"Come here." she orders, tightening her fingers into her gloves.

Korra walks over, scowling, tightening her own wrist bandages. She's momentarily distracted, and feasts her eyes across the fine specimen standing before her. Korra's wearing white joggers, with a deep blue tank top, and there's a dark trail of sweat running down between her breasts and across her abdomen. Korra smirks, probably realising where her mind is going, and the little tease pulls her top up, then pretends to dab sweat from her brow, exposing a very naked, very firm abdomen.

She coughs loudly, has to almost physically restrain herself.

"Behave yourself, Avatar."

"Or else?" Korra grins, pulls her top back down.

Korra's hair has grown out a little, enough to be able to tie the strands that'd usually be in her face behind her head, into an adorable little stumpy tail. She loves it.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Now, pay attention…" She says, watching Korra's face carefully, to make sure she doesn't overstep any boundaries…

"You're strong, and you're fast. But," She quickly sweeps her leg into the back of Korra's knees, "Not. Fast. Enough." She finishes, as Korra falls backward, legs in the air, landing with a loud grunt.

"That's cheating!" Korra exclaims, pouting up at her, whilst nursing a new bruise.

She watches as Korra deftly flicks her knees up, throws her legs forwards, and flips back onto her feet.

"Okay then, let's do this!" Korra's got a fire in her eyes now, and it's making her feel competitive all over again.

She jabs rapidly at Korra, forcing her to defend.

"You need to learn to defend more. You attack too much," she continues to jab and punch, though Korra is easily deflecting every attack.

"Your attacks are too animated, any wasted movement slows you down," she continues, now throwing in a few roundhouse kicks which Korra reflects with her forearms,

"And you're too stiff! Relax, and let your instincts take over."

"You mean, like when I learnt air bending?" Korra asks, avoiding her blows.

"Yes, but less dodging," she says, and intensifies her assault once she realises Korra's getting used to her attacks, "more blocking, and look for an opening when you parry. Don't think about it, attack the moment you see it."

"Don't you ever get tired?" Korra's panting, sweating, and so is she, but she's feeling more than a little smug that she's wearing down the avatar, of all people.

Korra's still managing to deflect her relentless assault, and she can see that Korra's movements looks more precise, more tuned, seemingly improving the longer that they spar. She decides to mix it up a bit, and aims a sudden roundhouse at Korra's head.

She gasps as Korra blocks, then twists the block around into a grip, grabbing her calf, and she's suddenly falling hard as Korra kneels to the floor, pulling her down whilst sweeping her legs out from under her. She winces at the prospect of the inevitable impact, but her shoulders land into warm, welcoming arms instead.

Korra's grinning like a child that's won their first ever toy in a spirit festival.

"Don't get too cocky!" She warns, though she's secretly impressed. She quickly hops back onto her feet.

"Round two. This time I'm not holding back, I want you to defend _and_ attack."

"Wait, what, you were holding baa..!"

She cuts Korra's words short with a blur of a kick that almost sends her flying, but it's dodged, and she feels herself growl involuntarily as Korra bend backwards, revealing that damn abdomen again, adorned with fresh beads of sweat. She blinks, it's so damn distracting… she bites back her desire, licks her lips as she drives into her next attack.

As they continue to spar, she notices that Korra's movements are starting to mirror her own.

"You're a fast learner!" she says, unable to mask the pride in her voice.

"Maybe it's because I have a great teacher!" Korra grins at her, before sending a spinning roundhouse at her midriff, which she only just manages to block.

"Good!" she encourages Korra, retaliating with a double jab, both hits blocked. Their bodies began to dance, every blow dodged or parried, every counter-attack avoided. They swirl around one another, blurs of dizzying motion, clashing together.

Then, just as she's getting too tired to continue, she sees Korra reveal an opening, and thrusts her hand towards her target. She grasps onto blue fabric, but quickly realises that her shoulder's also caught in a grip, and she's really not sure how it happened. She's trying to overpower Korra, but she's evenly matched, and Korra's trying to throw her too.

She's circling around her assailant, staring back into those fierce, blue eyes, panting. Sweat's dripping down Korra's chest, and she can feel that she's damp from it too, head to toe. Her hair's fallen out of its bindings, into messy strands, she blows it out of her face, and Korra takes advantage of the distraction, sending her off balance and towards the floor, where she's pinned down between Korra's thighs.

"Lesson's over." She growls, sits up, and threads her fingers into Korra's hair, dragging her into a fierce, searing kiss. Then she pulls away, and starts to nibble the nape of Korra's neck.

"Asami..." Korra groans, and she takes advantage of the moment, overpowering Korra, reversing their positions and forcing her to the floor.

"You're mine now…" she growls.

"Oh, no." Korra smirks up at her.

She starts to run her hand over the blue, damp fabric, down Korra's torso… then up, underneath the vest, where she soon finds a firm breast, at which Korra's groans are making her feel somewhat delirious. She crashes her lips against Korra's again, then clenches her hand around the captive breast, at the same time thrusting her leg between Korra's thighs.

She's surprised to feel Korra writhe in a tell-tale rhythm against her leg, and so soon. Then again, it's been almost _painfully_ long since they last made love…

"Not yet." She teases, forcing her leg away from Korra's gyrating hips, though with that hungry expression staring right into her, it's beyond difficult. "I've wanted to do this all day..."

"Oh, so you like beating me up?" Korra jokes, though her flush cheeks are telling a very different story.

"A little." She admits, then bites her lip, "but I like teasing you even more…"

"Didn't anyone teach you not to play with fire?" Korra's wearing her favourite expression – dark eyes, fuelled with desire. She's drowning in the look, so she doesn't try to fight back at all when Korra shifts beneath her, and forces her to the floor.

"Now, you're mine…" Korra's words send a shiver through her whole body.

"Yes, yes I am." She says, her voice barely a whisper, whilst she idly strokes a fingertip up Korra's forearm, and feels the hairs stand on end at her touch.

Suddenly, Korra's lips are biting into her neck, and she cries out, digs her fingers into Korra's back. She feels lips working their way around from one side of her neck to the other, then teeth clasp against her ear, forcing another moan to escape. Korra's hand glides its way under her top, and her breast is suddenly captured, held hostage to a thumb teasing her hardened nipple. She's losing herself, cries of pleasure escape her lips, whether she wants them to or not.

She's writhing her hips into air, desperate for release, and there's a fingertip slowly, slowly... crawling down her abdomen, across the top of her pants and around a thigh, and she gasps as she feels the finger glide past her centre, not quite close enough to touch, then draw a line up her other thigh, where it forms lazy circles.

"Korra..." she growls, grabs the teasing arm, tries to guide it where she needs it. But Korra is stronger, and continues to tease her, trailing fingertips everywhere apart from where she wants them the most.

She's not sure how much more of this she can take, her heart's racing, and she's desperate now for Korra's touch. As if her silent plea were heard, she feels her lover slide a hand down her pants, beneath her underwear, where she finally feels a hot, dry friction against her almost painfully hard bud. She cries out, digs her fingers into Korra's shoulders as the fingertip makes gentle, swirling patterns against her swollen clit… she wants more, she _needs_ more.

She can feel lips trailing towards her neglected breast, and the warm wetness that envelops it is too much to bear, she's gasping for air, thrusting herself into Korra's teasing hand, and then she feels teeth sink into her nipple, whilst Korra's fingers slide inside of her, deeply, and the fullness almost immediately sends her over the edge…

She holds herself back through sheer willpower, she wants to relish this moment. She slows her thrusting hips, slides her own hand down Korra's abdomen, delighting at the deep growl she can hear, then she quickly dives her hand beneath the fabric, closing the distance, finding an incredible amount of wetness, where she pushes her fingers further still, until they're encased within Korra's warmth.

Korra cries out, and starts to rock into her hand, which she lowers, until their thighs are interlocked, trapping each other's fingers in place. Korra's groaning into her ear, and they're writhing against each other, and now Korra's kissing her, circling a damp, hungry tongue against hers, and she can feel Korra's wetness streaming down her fingers. She's so close, she's so close… she can feel that Korra is too, there's a tightening of Korra's muscles, and a certain pitch to her gasps.

"Ahh.. f.. fuck!" Korra stutters, and she feels her shuddering against her, it sends her over the edge too, she rakes the nails of her spare hand down Korra's back as she rides out the waves of ecstasy pulsing through her body, and she's caught in a soundless, wordless scream.

Korra's body collapses above her, she feels her trembling in her arms. She's silent for a few moments, enjoying the closeness of Korra's now exhausted body.

"I love you..." Korra mumbles against her chest, and she sighs, marvelling at just how happy this woman makes her.

"I love you too." She says, stroking Korra's hair. They lay like that for a while, and as she's just about to instigate a second round of lovemaking, this time minus their clothes, she feels Korra suddenly spasm above her.

"Ouch."

"Ouch? You okay?"

"Yeah, shit… I think I just came on, back in a minute…" Korra says, hopping to her feet and dashing to the bathroom.

She pouts. She supposes she should be grateful they got _some_ time together before the dreaded attack of the monthlies. Strange though, their cycles are usually synced. Korra's early by about a week.

Korra's soon walking back towards her, with a sullen expression.

"So you are then? I mean, it's early."

"Yeah, hurts a lot more than usual too." Korra grimaces.

"Awww, poor baby, come here." She holds Korra close, presses her warm palms into her abdomen, because she knows it helps, even if only a little.

"Hey… Do you mind if we just sleep here? I don't think I can move..."

"Of course not… wait here a minute."

She stands up, and hunts down some makeshift bedding. She finds some freshly washed, jumbo towels that'll serve as covers, and creates a stack of three gym mats to use as a mattress.

"Tadaa!" She waves toward their makeshift bed, feeling somewhat proud of herself.

Korra walks over, grimacing even more, with a hand held to her abdomen. She's starting to feel quite worried, this is very out of character.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay? Did you want to go see a doctor?"

"No... no. It's just my body being… well, a little bitch." Korra chuckles, then lies down and pulls a towel over herself.

She pulls herself alongside Korra's body, and embraces her in a tight hug. She feels Korra twitching, presumably in pain, but eventually she hears tell-tale light snoring, and she smiles, nestles her head into Korra's back and soon drifts off to sleep herself.

::

::

::

**Authors's Notes**

So a lot of this should look familiar to my "Spirits Within" fans... You probably know where all of this is going, but _shhh,_ it's a secret! This time around we're going with a much bigger, longer story. I can't wait.

Please leave feedback!


	8. Sacrifice

"Korra…"

It's a whisper, and she barely hears.

"Korra."

Louder this time. Familiar. But she's tired, so she'll sleep some more.

"Korra!"

She thinks she can feel herself being shook at her shoulders, but she's so, so tired. She wants nothing more than to be left alone, and so she allows her mind to drift back to the peaceful darkness.

Soon, she's dreaming again. It's more like a memory, really, of when she had to fight against Vaatu, when Raava was almost killed. She smiles, pleased at the thought that they re-converged after Vaatu and Unalaq were defeated.

But… at the same time, a part of her that isn't her, feels angry at the thought. Furious, even.

Weird, she hasn't felt like this before. Must be the dream.

She's lucid, aware she's dreaming, and it's not for the first time. She's been controlling her dreams at least once per week – it's hard, and she usually wakes up tired from the exertion, but it's worth it. She wonders if she should conjure up a place where she can make love with Asami, which is her personal favourite.

Or perhaps she'll take the time to think, meditate, plan out the best way to finish off the repairs of the city.

She finds herself lost in thought, going over endless schematics, and the genius designs that Asami's drawn up recently. They're all flashing through her mind, blueprint after blueprint. She's been able to rally the other metal and earth benders to get through the construction work relatively quickly, though it's not been easy. Some people lack the finesse required for Asami's more complex ideas, but that's where she comes in.

She's especially proud of the overlapping road networks she's helped to bend into shape, and it's mainly because of the very special thanks she's received from Asami afterwards.

She suddenly has a strange sensation, like she's being moved against her will. It causes her to lose concentration, and the dream breaks from her control.

Now she's floating, bobbing up and down in an endless, crystal-clear, deep blue sea. It's cold, but it reminds her of home. She peers into the water, feeling sure she can see a bright white glow beneath the waves.

"_Korra…"_

She forms a giant air bubble and heads deep into the ocean. Soon she can make out the form proper… it's Raava. The form is flickering, as though struggling to stay in this plane.

"Raava, what's wrong?"

"…"

"Raava?" she panics, it's the first time in a long time that her friend hasn't spoken to her.

"_V… "_ Raava flickers away again, then shifts back, in a flash of light, "V…VAATU!"

Now, Raava's gone. Doesn't flicker back.

"Vaatu?" she chokes the word. _What does it mean?_

Suddenly, her head throbs, and she's in pain, excruciating, searing pain, and it's shooting from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.

"ARRRRGH!"

She's flooded with memories that aren't her own, flowing quickly, almost impossible to understand.

She's staring at some weird tendril-things, floating around like they're under the ocean, but glowing brightly in a multitude of colours. It's kind of beautiful to watch them dance, to twist and turn in endless spirals.

One of them is different, though. It horrifies her as it pulses with a sick and alien energy, in a weird, twisting rhythm. It pulls her forward, and she's choking, forced into it, forced down its slippery slope, and as she falls down the threads trail, her fear is suddenly replaced with excitement. Hunger. Glee.

These definitely aren't her thoughts. She has a brief moment of panic, but then she smiles. The thread's _delicious_, it's the most amazing thing she's ever tasted, and she's laughing as she spirals further and further downward.

She's sucked into her new host, suddenly surrounded by an endless expanse of black, red and silver, and the silver looks hauntingly familiar... it sends a shiver down her spine, of both fear and lust.

She's overwhelmed with greed, she devours the silver, feasts on it. She's never known such a hunger, and she can feel that her power is being restored, much more quickly than it ever has before.

The alien memories are interrupted as another white-hot burst of pain shoots through her.

This time it hurts so much that she can't even make a sound. She mouths a wordless scream, doubles backward in agony, and her body kicks and jerks without her consent. It feels wrong, like she's being torn apart from the inside, and there's soon an abyss calling to her, blacker than any of her dreams.

Just as she's thinking of entering the darkness, the pain subsides.

She thinks she can hear voices. Someone's crying, and it makes her heart wrench. She tries to focus on the sound, tries to understand what's happening, but instead she's soon distracted with more strange thoughts, and memories.

The silver elixir slows to a drip.

She inwardly screams in frustration, but is soon appeased when larger pools of black and red replace that which is lost. She continues to gorge, angry that the silver essence is barely present anymore, but sated by the fantastical amounts of pain, anger and self-loathing that have replaced it.

As she continues to feed, she hides her emotion, her hunger, not yet wishing to reveal her presence to her host. She waits patiently, feeding, content to bide her time for now.

She's dragged forward through the memory, sensing the passing of time...

A year passes.

Another…

One more.

The silver trickle suddenly stops, as does the red and black.

She wants to cry out in anger, she's so _close_… Just a little more, that's all she needs. But it's no good, her host is brimming with white and gold now. It makes her sick. It makes her want to leave. But she can't, there's nowhere else to go, and she can't survive without a host… yet.

Still, she's strong, stronger that she would have ever dreamed, at least so soon. There will always be red, and black, in any host. With any luck, just another year, two at the most, and she can finally make herself known.

Of course, she realised long ago where she is, who she's inside… The irony of the situation is not lost on her. She grins inwardly at the thoughts of what she'll soon do. It's all quite simple.

First, overpower and disable Raava.

Then, kill the Avatar, from within.

She doesn't give a _shit_ that she'll die too.

The memories stop.

Korra is herself again, dreaming that she's bobbing around in the ocean, facing up toward a clear-blue sky. She wants to cry, maybe even yell… she understands perfectly, she knows exactly what's happened.

Vaatu is inside of her.

The skies turn black, there's a sudden, third wave of pain, and it's the worse yet. She screams, and her throat is burning raw. A giant, amber-yellow, diamond-shaped eye slowly folds open in front of her, and a blacker than black pupil darts around. She hears a terrible, familiar laugh.

"HELLO, KORRA."

The pain continues to shoot through her… it's soon unbearable, and she knows she can't hold on for much longer. The abyss is there again, pulling at her more strongly than ever, temping her away from the pain, and just as she thinks she may succumb, she's suddenly awash with calm, blue water.

It drowns Vaatu out completely.

She lies back, relaxes into it, and exhales a deep sigh of relief.

She thinks this is the worst nightmare she's ever had, and makes a mental note to jot it down in the morning, in case it's relevant somehow.

::

"Is it working?" Asami asks, through her broken sobs.

"Yes. She's at ease. For now."

Katara looks at her with nothing but empathy, whilst easing healing pulses of water up and down Korra's body.

It's been the longest, most emotional week of her life, and she's exhausted.

"Dear, why don't you get some sleep? You know I'll wake you if anything changes."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Asami tries to smile, but even that's too much effort. Instead, she mutely nods at Katara, crawls to the edge of the hut, climbs into a cot and pulls the thick rugs over herself.

She hasn't slept for days.

She runs the events of the last week through her mind, over and over, until she's feeling dizzy.

Period pains. That's what she'd thought, what Korra had said. But no amount of pain prevents a woman from getting up in the morning. She'd playfully tried to wake Korra, and then later, playfulness had turned into urgent tugs, and then tugs had turned into shakes, and that's when she'd been overcome with panic.

She'd contacted Tonraq and Katara at once. They'd wanted to come up right away, but she'd argued that her new vessel was at least twice as fast. She'd recently had it built, and in hindsight, it'd been a bloody good job too.

The Hiroshi had sailed its maiden voyage, with herself, Jinora, Kya and an unconscious Korra aboard, as well as several sailors she'd hired for the trip.

Kya had insisted on coming, and she'd been more than happy to have the company of a water-bender on their voyage. Kya had helped them overcome the rougher seas, and also eased Korra through obvious bouts of pain.

For a week they'd sailed at full speed, propelled by the wind and the best engine she's ever built.

And then, just as they'd arrived, Korra had stared to spasm violently, and choke. It had been absolutely terrifying. Katara had taken charge immediately, commanded everyone to take Korra into her hut at once, where she'd worked her magic, and eased Korra into a restful, but thankfully still-living, state.

Asami has no idea what's wrong with Korra. Nobody does, and it's tearing her apart. Yet, despite the constant worry pulling at her heart, she soon falls unconscious.

::

She hears people talking above her.

"Someone must be able to help…" her father?

There's a sigh, and a woman's voice. She'd recognise it anywhere. Katara. She's aware of water ebbing and flowing around her, and it feels wonderful. She's feeling free of pain, and there's a burst of energy welling up within her, and she thinks it might be enough to...

Her eyes fling open, and she sits up, choking for air, like she'd been suffocating without realising it.

"Korra!" Katara exclaims, and her father pulls her into his arms.

"Sweetheart… we were so worried…"

"Wh.." her throats too dry to talk. Katara quickly bends her a glass of water, which she gulps down hungrily.

"Where's Asami? What happened? Why am I home?"

Katara smiles at her, and she sees the old water bender shift her eyes toward the back of the hut. She sees Asami there, curled up into a pile of rugs, fast asleep. She's relieved at the sight, that Asami's okay.

A while later, Katara speaks, whilst her father sits at her side, holding her, stroking her hair.

"Korra… I tried to heal you... but I felt a darkness within you."

She grimaces as her nightmares come flooding back. She closes her eyes, tries to talk to, or even sense Raava. There's hardly anything there, just a small flicker of light. She's worried… but not about the avatar form. She's worried about her friend, her companion.

"It's Raava… she's in a bad way."

"How…?" Katara asks.

"I think… I mean I dreamt it but… Vaatu's inside of me. And he's hurt her. And he's hurt me." She explains, clenching her fist into her vest at her chest. She can feel it, too. Her soul's all torn up, and the longer she's awake the more she's sensing the extent of the damage.

"Sweetheart, what do you mean?" it's the deep, familiar voice of her dad. She used to love listening to it as a child… it's sent her to sleep countless times.

"I mean that he's been inside of me ever since Zaheer poisoned me, that the poison was the catalyst for him to return, and that he's been feeding off it, off _me_, for over three years."

It's exhausting even to try to explain, and she's feeling tired again already, struggling to keep her eyes open. It's then that she realises the truth… she's dying.

Vaatu's attacks have cut deeply, and he's still inside of her, still clawing at her soul, sapping at her energy, killing her. In the meantime, Katara's water is fighting against him, blocking him from her thoughts, numbing out the pain, and even calming her, preventing a panic.

Her body is constantly tugging her toward a final sleep, her eyes keep half closing, and it's getting harder to fight it. She figures it's best to get to the point. Her time is short.

"Dad… I'm dying. He's killing me, he's killing Raava, and I… I can't stop him."

She sees her dad's face crumple at the words.

"It's okay… he'll die too, he can't live without a host."

The next voice comes in a harsh whisper, half shout, from the edge of the room.

"How… _how_ is that okay? In what way is that even slightly _okay?_"

Asami's staring at her, wide eyed. Looks angry. She struggles not to chuckle at the fonder memories of Asami's ire. For whatever reason, being on the verge of death is suddenly amusing. A small part of her reasons that it's probably not a good sign.

And then, she feels it. It's like one of the final pillars is pulled away.

"Dad… Katara… thank you so much. But please, can you leave us alone a few moments?"

She smiles sadly at them both, and she can see their sorrow, but somehow, they understand, and she's grateful. Katara kisses her on the forehead, then quietly leaves. Her father squeezes her, tells her how much he loves her, that she's the bravest person he's ever known, that he's so proud…

He kisses her on the cheek, and also leaves in silence.

Then, Asami's sat by her side, looking at her with damp eyes.

"How did this happen?" Asami asks.

She smiles. It's a damn good question.

"Vaatu's been inside of me for…"

"I heard all of that. I was awake. Korra, there's got to be something…" Asami pleads, caressing her cheek with a warm hand.

"I wish there were, my love…" she's not sure where the sudden term of endearment came from. It feels natural, though. Asami is her love, her true love. She's plagued with guilt that she has to leave her behind, but she's so tired now, Katara's waters have gone still, and the pain's starting to well up again.

"You should probably leave…" she warns. She's guessing her death won't be pretty, especially if Vaatu has anything to do with it.

"Like hell I will." Asami growls, with tears streaming down that beautiful face.

_Well, should have seen that coming_, she figures.

Before she can give any kind of witty retort, or tell Asami how she truly, deeply loves her, she's thrown into the worse spasm of pain she's ever felt. It's worse than the poison. It's more than a person should be able to endure, she should be unconscious, but instead, she's caught in a soundless scream, and she's vaguely aware of Asami holding her down, that there's tears splashing against her cheek as she writhes in pain.

She starts to fade, and she feels Vaatu clawing inside of her, with a manic, relentless laugh.

::

Korra's dying.

Right in front of her, Korra's dying. Writhing in pain.

For a moment, she feels numb, helpless. But then, right at the pinnacle of her despair, one ridiculous, far-fetched idea comes to mind. This is Vaatu. She'll have to be careful. She'll have to be strong. But _damn it_, she has to try, she can't just watch Korra die.

She calms herself down, removes all traces of concern and doubt from her mind, and focuses on the task, the objective… it's kind of like when she follows an intricate pattern, a blueprint.

She places her palms firmly against Korra's shoulders, presses the body down to quell the spasms.

"Vaatu." She commands.

Korra's spasms dwindle a little, but there's no response.

"I have something for you." She continues, and surprisingly, Korra's spasms die down a little more.

"You might be powerful, but you're like all spirits. Out of touch. You don't know how the world ticks. You don't know how mankind works anymore."

Korra's spasms stop. She's terrified at the notion she's gambling her will against such an ancient evil, but still, she takes advantage of the fact she's got Vaatu's attention, or at least, she thinks she has. She _hopes_ she has.

"When you last attacked, you used primal, physical force. It's not enough, it won't work anymore. We can fight back, we can heal."

Korra's eyes open, but instead of deep blue, there's menacing amber, piercing into her. Still, she can't let herself be intimated now, else all will be lost.

"It took just a few months to recover from your attack. We barely felt it…"

She sees Vaatu sneer, about to argue, but she interjects.

"Wealth is the new power, as well as technology, science, and medicine. You have none of these. But I… I have them _all_. Leave her… Take _me._"

There's a moment of silence, and she's staring into those dreadful, amber eyes, and her arms are shaking. But she's bring truthful, whilst it's a daring move, she's being _truthful_.

And apparently, he knows it. His face twists into a sinister smile, and then he speaks, through Korra's lips.

"YOU ARE A FOOL. YOU WOULD SACRIFICE YOUR OWN BODY AND DESTROY THE WORLD… FOR THIS _GIRL?_"

"Yes...!" Asami chokes, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"THEN I SHALL CONSUME YOUR SOUL! I ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL."

Vaatu clasps his hand around the back of her neck, and she feels his mouth collide against hers. A dark, hot arrow sears through her body, down her throat, into her spine. The world slips into darkness… she falls forwards, slumping over Korra's motionless, cold, body, hoping with her last conscious breath that she acted in time.

::

::

::

**Author's notes**

Yeah, shit's getting real. :-)


	9. Devotion

"I see that you were being truthful." Vaatu speaks, within her subconscious mind.

"It's not really something I'd lie about." She focuses the thought inwardly, knowing full well that she's asleep right now, but also painfully aware of the events that have just transpired.

"Had you deceived me, I would have sliced Korra's throat in her sleep, then cut your own."

She shudders at the image.

"I shall cut the Avatar's throat anyway. With your hand."

"If you do that, the white lotus will hunt me down, and arrest or kill me immediately." She doesn't even need to bluff, she knows it to be true. She's met with a resentful silence.

She can sense Vaatu, swirling within her soul. It's of great discomfort, makes her feel nauseous. But then, she suddenly feels him quieten, calm to stillness, and perhaps even fall asleep. She dares to hope that his transference has taken a toll, and that she might yet have time, time to be herself, time to find a way to fix this. But she's caught in the realm of dreams, and she can't focus. She's soon drifting, floating across an endless chasm of random thought, nonsensical images formulating in her mind, blueprints of impossible designs sketching themselves out.

She's vaguely aware of a hand caught within hers, though she isn't sure if she's dreaming. It feels real… feels like Korra. And if so, then she did it. She saved her. She drifts deeper into the abyss, feeling at least some semblance of comfort.

::

"_Korra…"_ she's dreaming again, and she knows it. But the voice, this time, is clear.

"Raava?"

"_Yes. Korra… You must awaken."_

She can sense a great deal of panic in the words.

"I'm trying. But Vaatu hit me pretty hard. What about you, are you okay?"

"_I have… been better. But I am recovering, quickly, as are you. Your healers are surprisingly skilled." _

"It's so good to hear your voice again…" she says, immensely relieved.

"_And yours. But Korra… Vaatu yet lives."_

"I know. I saw it… I saw everything…" she's saddened by the memory, the look of terror in Asami's eyes as Vaatu transferred into her.

"_You must awaken. Kill the host, before he can take over."_

She feels a streak of white-hot panic course through her veins at the words.

"WHAT?"

"_Korra, it is the only way. If he has Asami's power, your world is doomed."_

"And you want me to kill her? You live inside me, don't you feel what I feel?"

"_I… I do. But this is about more than her, more than you or I."_

"If you know how I feel, then you know exactly what I'd say to such a request."

She feels Raava sigh, colours of blue and white wash around her in dizzying spirals.

"_Then… you must watch over her. Restrain her if need be."_

"Is there a way to remove Vaatu?"

"_No. He chooses his hosts. He leaves once he is strong enough. It is how he has always resurrected in the world of man, and there is no known case of a host evicting him."_

"But… how could he take a host, take _me_… so soon?"

"_The pain, your poison, it drew him back into your realm… about a thousand years early."_

"That doesn't account for the other nine thousand…"

"_You refer to Vaatu as you know him, Vaatu at his full strength. He returns to your world as a parasite, a youngling. He feeds off a host, and eventually multiple hosts. I think that he is about the same strength he would be, had we been five thousand years into the next cycle."_

It's a lot of information to digest. Korra focuses her thoughts for a while, before she next speaks.

"So he's skipped half a generation? How can the poison have had such an effect?"

"That substance is... unnatural. I do not know from where Zaheer found it, but at least one component is not of your world."

Korra sighs, still trying to process all of this.

"So, Vaatu's back a thousand years early. He's in Asami, and might take over other hosts once he's strong enough."

"_Yes. Though, he usually lays idle within his hosts, until he can manifest his own physical form."_

"Do you think he'll do that this time?"

"_No. Asami has made the mistake of revealing the true weakness of man. Transferring hosts takes a toll, Vaatu will need to recover. But then he will take over her, manipulate her, and use her technology to wreak havoc, if you allow it."_

She grimaces.

"Do you have any idea how long he'll be dormant?"

"_I do not know. In theory, he could awaken at any time."_

"That's why you want me to kill her? You don't think there's another way?"

"_I cannot think of one. I am so, so sorry, Korra…"_

She feels the sincerity in Raava's thoughts. But it doesn't matter, doesn't make a damn difference.

"Well, you'd better get to thinking harder. I would sooner die myself, than hurt a single hair on her head." The words are harsh, and she knows it. But she needs Raava to understand exactly where she stands on this.

"_I thought you would say as much…"_ Raava says with a sigh, sounding resigned to her fate.

Korra says nothing more, and focuses on trying to heal, to wake up. She has to save Asami.

::

When Korra does awake, the first thing she notices is that Asami's hand is in her own. As her vision gradually clears, she sees her Mum, Dad, and Jinora around the room, with Katara next to her, and Kya next to Asami. Their faces shift from concern to relief as she awakens.

She's laying in a bed of water, with Asami just beside her, and there's healing waters ebbing over the two of them. She looks around, doesn't recognise the room that they're in, it's some sort of cabin, and she can sense a gentle rocking motion. She looks to her side… Asami looks so at peace, it's hard to imagine that there's a monster inside of her.

She sits up, slowly, never releasing Asami's hand, and her Mother and Father swoop down to her side.

"Korra…" her Mother speaks, Takes her into a tight embrace, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm… I'm fine. Where are we? We're on a boat, right?"

"It's Asami's new ship, the Hiroshi. We're headed back to the city, sweetheart." Her father says, as her mother gives her one more squeeze, then releases her.

That certainly explains why everything looks so pristine, new, and well-built. She smiles at the thought, but her smile soon falters when she can see that everyone in the room looks worried, panicked. She isn't sure how much they've seen, or what they know. As if reading her thoughts, Katara speaks next.

"Korra… I saw what Asami did."

She sighs. Well, that's that then.

"Yeah… she saved my life…" her hand tightens on Asami's at the thought. She's torn between gratitude and anger at such a reckless move. Then again, had their roles been reversed, she would have done the same, or tried to.

"Anyway… I've been talking to Raava about all of this, whilst I slept."

"Raava is recovered?" Katara asks, sounding surprised.

"Partially. Thanks to you two." She smiles at Katara and Kya.

She fills everyone in on the specifics, how Vaatu manifests, why he's back so soon. She skims the detail about how he'll almost certainly try to take over Asami rather than stay idle, and instead explains that it's a possibility.

"What does Raava suggest we do?"

She's definitely not willing to reveal Raava's darker idea.

"I'm going to keep my eye on Asami. Vaatu will be dormant a while after the transference. Maybe weeks, months, or years. We mustn't be hasty."

She conveys at much confidence as she can into her voice, fully aware that her own wishes can be overruled if Vaatu's deemed too high a threat.

"Jinora, I need you to try to get access to the library again… grab any information you can get hold of about Vaatu, specifically if there's been any known case of him being forced from a host."

"Wan Shi Tong might still be angry, but… I'll try. Even he should see the necessity for this." Jinora says. Korra nods, gratefully.

"Katara, Kya, Mum, Dad… I need you to have my back. For now, I don't want to tell anyone about this, other than Tenzin. Please. We need to fix this amongst ourselves, and not cause a large-scale panic."

"Sweetheart, we trust you with our lives." Her father speaks, the others nod in agreement, and she feels tears well to her eyes.

::

Her consciousness slowly twists back to reality, to the present. There's a moist towel held to her forehead, and she has the mother of all headaches, worse than the time a loose nut slipped out of an aircraft prototype and landed on her head.

"Urghh… where am I…" she croaks, her voice dry. She pries her eyes open, everything's far too bright, and she's feeling disorientated, nauseous.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're home. I'm here."

Korra's voice. It grounds her, the dizziness stops. She opens her eyes, looks up to see gorgeous blue staring right back, and her heart glows at the sight.

"Korra! You're alive!" she sits up, throws her arms around Korra, bursts into tears.

She feels Korra's arms envelop her, and for a few blissful moments, she feels at home, right where she's meant to be. Eventually, she pulls back from the hug, strokes a hand down Korra's cheek. There's tears there.

"You had me worried… you've been out cold ever since… since you saved me…" Korra says, then looks away, gazes outside of the main bedroom window, which is draped in red and black.

And that's when reality hits her, like a satomobile slamming into a brick wall. _Vaatu._ She feels panic well up… what if Korra won't talk to her anymore? What if she's a monster? Korra turns her gaze back towards her, and pulls her into another hug, as if sensing her turmoil.

"Asami, it's okay. We'll figure something out, we always do. But right now, you need to eat. It's been over a week," Korra says, "Wait here a minute. Drink this for now."

She's handed a glass, from which she drinks hungrily. There's a hint of salt and sugar, and she's guessing that Korra's been feeding it to her whilst she's been unconscious. She feels slightly more at ease when she sees that Korra's eyes don't betray any sign of fear, just a calm softness, tinged with sadness.

Korra takes the empty glass from her, sets it to the side, smiles at her and heads downstairs.

She rests her head on the pillow, and can feel her headache start to subside. She hears a few bangs and clatters downstairs, and for some reason feels oddly at ease just by knowing that Korra's nearby. She starts to drift into another nap, but is soon roused by Korra, looking at her with concerned, gorgeous blue eyes.

"Asami, come on. Drink this." Korra helps her sit up, tips a large bowl towards her mouth. It's warm, some sort of soup. It's quite tasty, but she'd expect nothing less from Korra. She drinks from it, grasps the sides of the bowl, suddenly aware of just how hungry she really is. She finishes off the entire serving in no time.

"That was great… what was it?" she smiles as Korra takes the empty bowl away.

"It's a special recipe that my Mother taught me. She uses it to bring people back from the dead, well, almost. Basically it's just lots of mushed up veggies, herbs, and meat."

She struggles not to laugh at the obvious pride in Korra's voice.

"Well, I already feel much better. Thank you."

"Do you want more?" Korra asks, sitting on a chair beside the bed.

"Hmm, not just yet."

There's a few moments silence, and she can see there's something bothering Korra. She's fairly sure she knows what it is.

"Korra… you know I had to… do what I did, right?"

Korra casts her eyes downwards.

"I... I had to! You would have done the same… you were dying, _dying_ right in front of me!" she feels tears well up at the terrible memory of Korra thrashing around, screaming in pain.

Korra places soft hands against the sides of her face, then leans in for a slow, tender kiss. She closes her eyes, shuts out everything for that moment, and focuses solely on the lips of the woman she loves.

"Thank you." Korra pulls away, smiles sincerely, "Honestly, I know it's selfish, but I didn't want to die. You bought us some time, and like I said, we'll figure something out."

Asami's relieved that Korra's taking this so well, she feels calm just by having her nearby, even calmer than usual, and she can't quite figure out why. She suddenly scrunches her nose, there's an unusual odour. Then she blushes, realising it's her, and Korra's being so polite and saying nothing about it. She must _reek_, over a week without a wash, and her hair, it's probably all over the place, and how can Korra even stand to be near her like this?

"Korra. I need a bath." She says, matter-of-factly.

"Yes, yes you do." Korra grins, so she throws a pillow at her, before getting out of bed and heading toward the washroom.

She feels a little unsteady for the first few steps, even the thick pile of the carpet feels weird beneath her bare feet, like it's somehow throwing her off-balance. Korra's soon by her side, fussing over her.

"Korra, I'll be fine, really. It's just from lying down for too long." She smiles, kisses her on the cheek, and heads into the bathroom.

She twists the taps on the hot tub, starts to fill it, and in the meantime scrubs her teeth, gargling minty freshness back into her breath. She's feeling surprisingly energised, and makes a sound of disgust when she sees herself in the mirror. Her appearance is far from acceptable. But, first things first.

She finishes filling the bath, finding the right temperature. She likes her water to be very hot, and very foamy. She slips into the tub, sinks back into the bubbles, closes her eyes, and sighs as the events of the past two weeks catch up with her.

_We're both alive, that's all that matters_, she thinks. But there's a ball of anxiety in her chest, and as she starts to think about Vaatu, it swells, and her thoughts begin to spiral out of control. _Who knows when he'll awaken? Will he take over my mind? My body? What if I lose myself forever? What if I hurt people? What if I hurt Korra?_ She pulls her knees to her chest, tries to hold back the tears, to will the bad thoughts away.

Her thoughts are disrupted by a knock at the bathroom door.

"It's me. Can I come in?"

She smiles… this is one of the many things she loves about Korra. Even though they've been together for over two months, there's still a little shyness, and nothing is taken granted.

"Yes, of course." She calls out.

The door opens and Korra walks in, smiling, then kneels down besides the tub and folds her arms over the edge. She soon notices that Korra's eyes are roaming across her body. She smirks.

"You're not even being subtle, Korra." She teases.

"Sorry… but we both nearly died. And in my case, not for the first time." Korra sighs, "I guess I'm just enjoying you, whilst I still can."

"Enjoying me?" she feels herself redden at the remark. She places her hand atop Korra's, "I don't plan on going anywhere, and I'll fight him. I promise." She whispers.

"I don't know how you can be so calm…" Korra says, with a distant, sad look in her eyes.

"I'm not. Korra… I'm terrified." She looks straight into Korra's eyes, feeling suddenly desperate to feel Korra, as closely as possible.

"Asami…" Korra whispers, and as if reading her mind, closes in, presses warm, inviting lips against hers.

She threads her fingers into Korra's hair, deepens their kiss, and when she feels Korra's tongue flicker against hers, the anxiety starts to melt away, replaced with need, and it's different than usual, because she truly _needs_ Korra, with every fibre of her being.

"Get in here…" she whispers into Korra's ear.

Korra pulls away, and she can see there's a deep longing in those eyes, too. Maybe this could be their last time. Maybe Korra's thinking the same.

Korra quickly strips, slides into the other side of the tub, then floats towards her. She softly wraps her legs around Korra's waist, slips her arms around her shoulders and pulls their frames together, so that Korra's head is resting on her shoulder, and they're holding each other, tightly.

They stay like that a few minutes, and she's trying to hold back tears, but she can't.

"Asami… don't." she can hear Korra's close to tears, too.

"I'm sorry... I just don't ever want to lose you. Lose this."

Korra says nothing in reply, pulls slightly away from their tight embrace, then quickly finds her lips, kissing her tenderly. The urgency of their kiss soon changes… there's a deep longing, a void, and she's sure Korra feels it too, because she's kissing back just as desperately. She leans her head, gaining full access to Korra's searching tongue, and they're suddenly kissing roughly, tongues swirling, gripping fingers into each other's hair, groaning.

Her hips are rocking against Korra's waist, their kiss never breaking, and she suddenly feels Korra's hands shift to her thighs, easing her towards an upper step around the hot tub, so that the water's just below her waist.

Korra breaks from the kiss, and starts to trail lips, teeth and a hungry tongue all over her body. She's lost in Korra, there's no anxiety anymore, just need, and she cries out when she feels teeth clasp onto her nipple. Korra's mouth is relentless, sliding across her abdomen, trailing down. And now she's knelt between her legs, looking up at her.

Asami's surprised for a moment when she sees Korra frown, deep in concentration. She soon notices that water's being bent into streams around her waist. Before she can say anything, the current becomes more precise, it's swirling over her thighs, and between her legs. She gasps as the pressure increases, and starts to run past her clit in a heavy stream. It feels… _amazing_, she's gasping with each rush of water, and Korra's serious, focused expression is driving her even further over the edge.

She feels a scatter of warm kisses slowly trail back up her abdomen, the water never stopping, constantly stoking a furnace that's threatening to explode. And then Korra's head is next to hers, and she slides her arms around those firm shoulders, holding on, digging her nails into flesh as Korra sinks teeth into her neck.

"Fuck… Korra…" she's on the precipice now, and then she feels Korra's fingers exploring beneath the flowing waters.

"If… you go there, I… I really won't last much longer." She warns, between gasps.

Korra turns to look at her, deep dark pools of blue, flushed cheeks. She says only one word, in a dry, hungry voice.

"Good."

Her whole body shudders at the word, she rakes her fingers down Korra's shoulders, forcing a hiss in response, and then Korra's fingers are inside of her, filling her. She's lost, grasping, clutching madly at the bronze flesh beneath her hands, and her head's thrown back, uttering soundless curses.

"Korra… don't stop…" she groans, arches her back and bites her lip as the first tremor jolts through her. The whole world's melting away, those determined, thrusting fingers are too much to bear, and the waters are still assaulting her clit, causing it to throb uncontrollably.

"I'm coming…!" she gasps, as a fierce, wet orgasm shudders inside of her, and just when she thinks she's at her peak, she's awash with a second, even stronger climax, her clit finally surrendering to the waters gushing against it. She doesn't know what she's saying, or doing, there's just wave after wave of golden, pure bliss, tremors attacking her senses, from both inside and out.

For the briefest moment in time, she's connected with Korra, feels nothing but her… it's like they're the same person. There's nothing but love… it's breath-taking, it's new, and she tries to hold onto it, but it soon slips away.

When she's finally able to open her eyes, she's surprised to find tears in them. She's clutching Korra tightly, fingers dug into her back, and their heads are side by side. Korra's uncharacteristically silent, and a few moments later, she notices her shoulders are softly jerking up and down.

"Korra… what's wrong?" she whispers, strokes a hand through her hair.

"Just... I… don't ever leave me, 'Sami… please…" Korra whispers the words, between obvious sobs.

She tries to muster the bravest, fiercest expression she can manage, pulls back from the embrace and stares into Korra's despairing eyes. She's not sure she's ever seen Korra look this vulnerable, not since the poison. It tears her heart apart.

"I'll fight him, Korra. I'll fight back with everything I have."

Then, as though some comedic genius has replaced her stomach, there's the loudest growl she's ever heard, coming straight from her own body.

Korra suddenly snorts with laughter, dissolving the tension in the air, and she soon joins in, and they're both lost in laughter for a while. It feels great, even though her jaw starts to ache.

"Sorry…. I guess I could do with that second helping now?" She says eventually, smiling as she strokes a strand of Korra's hair.

"I'll cook up some more, and then I was thinking we should visit Iroh. He's bound to know something." Korra beams, and seems to be back to her usual self, for now.

"Good idea, but I'll need to arrange some things with Rei first."

As she stares into Korra's eyes, she finds herself thinking about her very recent, very new experience, and the inventive use of water-bending. She smirks.

"Korra… whatever you did just now. I want a repeat of it. Soon."

Korra flashes her a bashful grin, sinks backward beneath the bubbles, so that just a nose, and gorgeous blue eyes and peeking above the water. _So damn cute_, she thinks, slinking back into the water herself, feeling an irresistible tug towards Korra.

_Food can wait, just a little longer…_


	10. Anger

Korra punches the wall, hard. Pain shoots up her arm, so she grits her teeth, and forces back her tears.

"So, there's nothing?" she asks, her voice barely a whisper.

Tenzin's expression is grave, and Jinora's looking away.

For a week, they've tried everything, exhausted all avenues. Jinora did find some references at the library, but mainly literature about harmonic convergence and the ongoing battle between Raava and Vaatu. That damn owl had refused to help, either because he wouldn't or couldn't, nobody could say for certain… and Iroh had done nothing except look at Korra with saddened eyes, whilst shaking his head slowly.

Raava's been unusually quiet the whole time, and Korra's sure that it's because there is no fix, no resolution, no bad guy to punch in the face, and no monster to slay. She clenches her fist, looks at the tiny streams of blood flowing down her knuckles.

"Korra, hurting yourself won't help…" Pema looks at her with the same damn sad eyes that everyone else has been using, the same look that's been driving her slowly insane.

Still, it's not their fault. It's nobody's fault. She sighs, allows herself to be led to a private room, no doubt for another heart to heart with Pema that she doesn't want to engage in.

It doesn't happen, though. It seems the feeling of hopelessness has spread, nobody's trying to cheer her up anymore, or tell her that things will work out. She can't let herself wallow in misery, though. Asami needs her… she manages a weak smile as Pema brings her a bowl of water, from which she quickly water-bends her fresh wounds until the blood stops flowing. As she watches the water work it's magic, she can't help but wish with all the longing in her heart that she could fix Asami just as easily.

"Thanks, Pema. Sorry…"

"Nobody blames you, honey… I can't even begin to imagine how hard this must be." Pema sighs, takes the bowl away.

"I'm gonna go to the workshop, swap places with Dad."

She presses her fingertips to the gap between her eyebrows, trying to massage away a headache threatening to start. She knows that it must be driving Asami crazy, but the only way they've been able to grant her any freedom is on the condition that they can monitor her, watch for any signs of 'unusual behaviour', as Tenzin had put it. Still, it's better than the alternative, where they throw Asami into captivity as a precaution instead.

With every step she takes, she tries to force her black mood away. It won't do to be like this around Asami, she has to be the brave one, she can't show that they're losing hope, that they're finding nothing of worth. It would tear Asami apart.

::

Work.

Just like it had been the three years that Korra had been away, it's her escape this time, too. Asami frowns as she tries again to tighten this damn stubborn nut. No good. More oil. She loosens it, re-aligns, and tries again. Perfect… on to the next one. At this rate she'll be able to give this new engine a test run on the track in no time at all.

Machines make _sense_. She designs them from the ground up, understands every single thing about them. There's not a single thing in the world that could go wrong, without her being able to give a reasonable, scientific explanation.

Other things, however, don't make sense at all.

Death, for example. How a loved one can simply cease to exist, to function, to blink out of your life in an instant. She's still haunted by flashbacks of her Father's last moments, the finality and loudness of the _click_ as the ejector seat button flicks open, the terror as it's pressed right in front of her. It's like she can still feel the belts tearing into her shoulders, the rush of air pressing against her as the chair accelerates impossibly quickly, and then the sudden jolt as the chute opens and gravity takes hold.

Then, the horrible, nightmarish sight of her father's hummingbird, crushed like a tin can as the metal giant's fist raises again. Kuvira's fist. Kuvira's giant.

_Kuvira…_

It doesn't make sense how someone like that is still alive, should even be allowed to live. She finds herself wishing that republic city had harsher laws for cases such as this. Why should a mass-murderer be allowed to live?

The screwdriver falls from her suddenly shaky hand, she realises her teeth are gritted tightly together, and she's angry, _furious_ to the point where her whole body is shaking.

"Asami?"

It's Korra. She closes her eyes, tries to calm herself as she wheels herself from beneath the satomobile.

"Hey, sweety." She smiles, feeling more at ease once Korra's eyes meet hers.

"What ya doing?" Korra smiles down at her, though she can see the usual hint of sadness in her eyes. They keep trying to hide it from her, the futility of it all. But she can see it, and it's why work is so important to her right now. She's grateful that she's been allowed to continue, else she's sure she would have lost her mind, caved in to anxiety and fear.

"Just finishing off this new prototype. Wanna take it for a spin later?" She forces a smirk.

"Definitely! Want a hand with anything?"

"No! No touching!" she chuckles as she winks at Korra, then wheels herself back under the car and sets to work. The last time Korra 'helped', the entire workshop had almost been destroyed. Since then, Korra had been more or less banned from here, though of course that rule doesn't currently apply.

It's been easier when Korra's been around. When they've made love every night, and slept tightly wound in each other's arms. But Korra can't be here all the time, because Korra, being Korra, is out and about turning over every stone, researching every angle, trying to find a solution to this mess.

Korra makes idle chatter whilst she tightens the last few bolts, telling her that Tonraq and Senna will soon have to return home. She's saddened at the thought… it's been nice to chat to them, get to know them more, and in many ways they've been treating her as though she's family.

Apparently, Tenzin and Kya will take over watching her when Korra's not around.

She sighs. She hates the idea that people are going out of their way to watch over her, just so that she can have some freedom. And the whole time, Vaatu has been silent. In a way, she almost wishes he'd do something… anything, since not knowing what will happen next is the worse part.

She fastens the last nut into place.

"All done. Let's give it a go!"

She wheels out to see Korra grinning like an excited child, and suddenly it feels like old times. She jumps into the car, fires up the engine and grins at the hearty, low throb rumbling through her seat. Korra hops in behind, they fasten their helmets and she eases the car out of the garage, onto the track.

She doesn't waste any time, other than to glance back and see Korra give her a lop-sided grin and a thumbs up, then her foot's to the floor, and they're shooting around the track.

It's easily the fastest car she's built so far, handling corners with ease, and sticking to the track just like she designed it to. Korra's whooping away in the back, which is spurring her on all the more, and in these few precious minutes all of her troubles slip away, and it's just the two of them goofing around, having fun… like new couples are _supposed_ to.

It's on the fourth lap that she gets a rather harsh reminder of the situation she's in.

_"Why is mankind never satisfied?"_

The voice rings in her head, clear as day. Her heart pounds in her chest.

"Vaatu?"

_"You seek to go faster, fly higher. You are greedy, always wanting more…"_

She tries to keep focus on the track ahead, it's a dangerous time to be distracted.

"What's wrong with trying to improve?" she somehow keeps her cool, eases the car around the next corner.

_"You were already given far more than you ever deserved."_

The words don't make much sense, and Vaatu says nothing more as she pulls the car over to the side, panting, feeling nauseous. She rips off her helmet, paces up and down, feeling the chill air brush against her now damp face.

"Asami?" Korra looks at her wide-eyed, clearly worried.

"He… he's awake. I think." She clenches her fists, looks into Korra's eyes.

"What do you mean?" Korra asks, slowly.

"I heard him. In my head…"

"Is he still there?"

"He's gone quiet… I can't tell."

Korra sighs, and pulls her into an embrace. In that warmth, and with Korra's scent, she closes her eyes, manages to relax a little.

"Let's go home, we'll work something out." Korra says, somehow sounding calmer than ever, and Asami merely nods, suddenly feeling exhausted.

It's getting fairly late, so they head straight upstairs, get changed for bed. She curls into a ball, and Korra pulls her into her embrace from behind.

"Korra… If he's waking up, you know what we have to do," she says the words, already resigned to her fate. She'll sit in some glorified cell until she loses her mind, or Vaatu takes over completely.

"No." Korra's words surprise her, "Just because he can speak, doesn't mean he can do a damn thing. There's still time."

"Time for _what?_" she snaps, despite herself, and feels Korra's arms tense up around her, "I'm… I'm sorry. This is kind of terrifying." She continues, and Korra rubs a palm up and down her arm gently.

"You don't have to apologise. I love you… I just feel so powerless…" Korra's voice sounds hoarse. She knows this must be tearing her up inside.

"I love you too… But for now, let's sleep on it." She says, with a yawn, and puts a hand atop Korra's, weaving their fingers together.

"Okay… night, 'Sami…" Korra mumbles the words into her back, and she smiles as the lips tickle against her skin.

Somehow, despite everything, sleep comes easily.

::

Her dreams are dark, filled with memories of her father, of their reconciliation, but mainly of the giant, metal hand crushing him almost instantly, except this time she can hear him scream, hear his bones crunch with a loud echo as the metal cage he's trapped in collapses around him.

She looks up to see the metal giant isn't metal anymore. It's Kuvira, gigantic, menacing, and laughing as she wipes the remains of the hummingbird from her fist. Blood drops from the clenched hand, along with shards of metal, and a single, shattered pair of spectacles.

Grief is soon replaced with rage, and it's even worse than earlier, at the workshop. She's barely able to control her breathing, its ragged, more like a pant. She's so angry that she feels like throwing up, like reaching up and tearing that metal-bending bitch's face clean off with her bare hands.

She snaps awake, drenched in sweat. Korra's rolled over onto the other side of the bed, lied back and snoring loudly. She's still angry, and finds it difficult to get back to sleep. Somehow though, she manages.

In her next dream, she positively seethes with anger, and has one singular purpose as she gets dressed, then climbs into her car and starts the engine.

_Kill Kuvira_…

She speeds towards the compound, a large prison devoid of metal and earth, built especially for metal bending prisoners. Built by Future Industries. She has little trouble convincing the guards that she's here for a routine inspection, and needs to investigate a potential flaw in her own security system. The last guard is a young boy. Easy prey for her sultry words and purposeful hair-flip. He goes to take a toilet break, as per her suggestion, so that she can have a quiet moment with the prisoner.

She flicks his keycard around in her fingers, musing for a moment how real this all feels. Maybe she'll wake up soon, but before then, she wants to finish her mission.

She slides the card across the plastic receptacle, and the thick-plastic door slides open, revealing the inside. White and grey plastic walls adorn the room, there's a bed and plastic table, plastic chairs, not much else.

Kuvira's sat cross-legged on the bed, messy-haired, almost wild-eyed, and staring at her warily.

"What do _you_ want?" Kuvira growls the question.

She smirks.

"I thought I'd come see how you're doing…" she says, walking forwards slowly.

"I remember you…" Kuvira frowns at her.

"Oh? I'm honoured." She says, dryly. She pauses just in front of the prisoner, folds her arms, stares.

"Look… I'm sorry about your father…"

The words reignite every ounce of rage she'd felt earlier, without a moment's thought she balls her hand into a fist and slams it into Kuvira's face, not even feeling any pain as her knuckles connect with cheekbone.

"You're… sorry?" she laughs at the words, finding them ridiculous. She threads her fingers into the woman's knotted hair, pulling upwards hard so that their eyes can meet, up close.

"Sorry for my father?" she squeezes her fingers, ripping some hairs out. Kuvira winces, blood's dripping out of her mouth. Asami grins at the sight.

"Sorry for the six-hundred and thirty-two others that you killed, or the thousands more that you injured?" She thrusts the trapped head into the wall behind, causing Kuvira to cry out as the back of her skull meets plastic with a loud bang.

"Sorry! I'm sorry…" Kuvira's choking out the words, spits out a broken tooth.

Weird, she didn't know she could punch that hard. She takes the woman's neck into her hand, stands on the bed and lifts her up against the wall, pinning her by the throat, using strength she didn't even know she had. She figures it must be the dream, some sort of super-strength. It feels good, though. Exhilarating.

She squeezes her fingers, starts to choke the life out of her prey, feeling a sense of elation, of justice, as she sees Kuvira claw against her grip, legs dangling in the air, kicking at nothing in sheer panic as the last traces of life are taken away. She stares into those eyes again, watching as they look back with nothing but terror, and start to slowly glaze over…

"Asami!"

She's struck with a sudden force of air, sending her flying away from Kuvira, and off the bed. She lands on the floor, and the pain of impact knocks the air right out of her lungs.

And then she realises, she _isn't_ dreaming. She feels a sudden clarity, like a daze is lifted, and Korra's looking at her like she's a monster, then tending to Kuvira, breathing life back into half-dead lungs.

She can't stand, she's overcome with confusion, with fear. She watches as paramedics take a still-living Kuvira outside, and then Korra slowly approaches her, bends down, puts a hand on her cheek.

"Asami… is that you?" there's tears in Korra's eyes.

"I… think so." She says, though her own voice sounds strange to her.

"What happened?"

"I… don't know. I thought it was a dream… is… is she okay?" she starts to sob the words, finally overcome with emotion.

"Shh, it's okay. She'll be fine. Come on, let's get out of here."

She offers no resistance when Korra pulls her up, and leads her outside, back to the car. If she still had any energy left, she might be amused at Korra's terrible driving as they headed back to the mansion.

She decides that if they ever make it through this nightmare, she's going to try to teach Korra to drive again, and this time, she won't give up.

She looks to the side to see Korra, wearing a very stoic expression, and as exhaustion takes over, she's acutely aware that they're not headed to the mansion after all…


	11. Capture

Korra pulls the satomobile into the makeshift driveway, and if her mind weren't riddled with worry she might feel proud that she's gotten them all the way here without a single scratch on the car. She turns the key, killing the engine, then looks across at the sleeping figure in the passenger seat.

It all seems surreal, somehow. Back then, seeing Asami like that, holding Kuvira up with just one hand and strangling the life out of her. If Vaatu's already having this effect, who knew what could come next?

A shiver runs up her spine as she opens her door, climbs out of the car, then heads towards Asami's side.

"Hey, 'Sami…" she says, gently shaking the other woman's shoulder.

"Hmmm?" Asami opens one eye, looks momentarily confused, "Korra? Where are we? What happened?"

"We can talk in a minute, follow me…" she says, opening the car door and taking Asami's hand.

They walk down a gravel path, then stumble through a few bushes for a while until she finds her familiar spot. She turns to Asami, smiles and points forwards, between a clearing in the bushes, towards her top-secret project.

Asami gasps, "What's this? A log cabin?"

"Yup. I was going to surprise you once I'd finished… it's nearly there now, just missing a couple of creature comforts." She beams, proudly.

"But Korra, why are we here… oh." Asami holds a hand to her head, grimaces, "so, all of that actually happened?"

Korra's struggling to hold Asami's gaze, jade eyes wide in an almost desperate plea, and she wishes she could lie, or somehow change the recent past.

"Sorry… But, it did, and I brought us here so we can at least think before Lin turns up. Come on."

She opens the cabin door, leads Asami inside and breathes a small jet of fire onto the logs within the fireplace. Asami's already sat on the sofa, legs curled into her arms, eyes staring down into nothingness.

"So… I guess he's taking over." Asami says, in a half-whisper.

She sits close to Asami, and rests her palm on a trembling thigh. Glistening, green eyes bore into hers.

"Can you tell me what happened?" she asks, gently.

Asami's voice wavers. "I… I thought I was dreaming. Right up until when you arrived."

There's a few moments silence, and Asami stares into the now crackling log fire, orange light flickering across the room, across the porcelain face.

"Don't you think it's a bit of strange dream to have?" Korra asks.

Asami grimaces at the question, looks away, eyes starting to brim with fresh tears. Korra moves closer still, wraps an arm around stiff shoulders, and tries to offer comfort.

"Hey, it's okay… we can talk later if you want…"

"No, we're here now…" Asami turns, looks at her, "Korra… I was angry, no, _furious_. More than I've ever been, and it was all aimed at Kuvira. The whole time I still felt like I was myself… and that's the part that's scaring me the most."

"I've never seen you like that… he's obviously manipulating you, maybe it's subliminal. Though that doesn't explain how _strong_ you were." She frowns.

Asami's looking away again, like there's more to the story. A loud pop from the fire causes Korra to jump for a second, then she rests her eyes back upon Asami's features, and rubs a palm up and down her shoulders.

"It… happened earlier that day too, though not as badly."

"Huh?"

"In my workshop… I was under the car, and out of nowhere I started thinking about Kuvira, I felt angrier than I ever have, and I couldn't even hold onto my screwdriver. But then you turned up, and it kind of just… melted away."

"Why do you think you're suddenly this angry at her? I mean, I can't blame you…"

"I have no idea. I think it's like you said, Vaatu's doing something, changing how I feel, how I think… and it _terrifies_ me. I never thought I'd still be myself whilst doing terrible things…"

"What makes you think you _were_ yourself though?"

"A tiny part of me wondered if it wasn't a dream, and a bigger part of me didn't care, and I even found myself enjoying what I did… _enjoying_ it!" Asami sobs the last few words, so Korra pulls her closer still, nestles her head against Asami's neck.

"That definitely doesn't sound like the Asami I know." She mumbles.

"You have to lock me up. Restrain me."

"No."

"Korra! It isn't safe… what if I hurt someone else? What if you don't get there in time? What if I hurt someone close…" Asami looks at her, pain and distress evident in the expression, "what if I hurt _you_? I couldn't stand it… it would destroy me. Please… "

She grits her teeth, looks away and back to the flames in the fireplace. They're flickering around, hungrily consuming oxygen whilst destroying the very wood that fuels them. Fire is like a virus… consuming everything until there's nothing left, and then it dies. Beautiful. Pointless. Futile.

"Korra… I'm so scared…" Asami's wavering voice pulls her away from the depressive thoughts, and she chides herself for selfishly wallowing in self-pity whilst the woman she loves is clearly suffering.

"It's okay… I'm here." She says, placing her hands at the sides of Asami's face. The skin's cold, a little clammy. She leans forwards, until their lips are but an inch apart.

"Don't…" Asami whispers, "I might not be myself, remember…?"

She pauses, looks straight into Asami's eyes, and strokes a hand into loose, black locks of hair.

"You are you. And I love you, and that's all that matters."

Asami's face softens at the words… Korra closes the remaining inch, pressing her lips against the soft flesh beneath. She feels Asami's arms slide around her waist, and before she knows it, they're lying on the couch, kissing passionately, and she soon realises that she needs this every bit as much as Asami does.

She wants to be as close as possible, forget about the world, feel her, and only her… they're soon frantically striping each other bare, lips and teeth capturing flesh, more hungrily than ever…

::

"Where are they?" Lin barks, feeling agitated, and tired.

"I told you Lin, I don't know!" Tenzin raises his voice, starts to show tell-tale signs of anger with his reddening face.

"Korra can't protect her forever… we have laws for a reason!"

"Lin, there's more to this than…"

"There's no excuse in this world that can excuse her abusing her power and nearly killing a prisoner. None!" She grunts, folding her arms, and then feels a firm hand squeeze her shoulder from behind.

"Hey, can I talk to you? In private?" It's Kya.

She turns to face the water bender, and nods in silent agreement, wondering what Kya's up to. Usually it would be no good, mischief or some nonsense, but Kya's actually wearing a serious expression for once. She's led into a spare room, one of many that are now empty at the air temple.

"For once, my brother's right." Kya says, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you need to sit down, it's a long story. I'll get us some tea."

Lin watches Kya leave the room, and sits herself down on a wooden stool. She finds her eyes drifting down towards Kya's posterior, and quickly averts her gaze. She's reminded of the time she actually had a crush on Kya… on Tenzin's sister, of all people. She chuckles to herself at the thought, although if she's completely honest, maybe it was more than a crush, and maybe it never went away.

She'd certainly been out of her mind with worry back when the air nomads were captured… when Kya was badly hurt. But she's too old for this kind of silliness now… her job is all that matters, as is the safety of the city.

She's snapped from her thoughts by Kya clicking fingers together in front of her eyes.

"Hellooo? You were in a different world, there." Kya chuckles, pouring tea into two cups that are now laid out on a small, round table.

"I was just thinking back to the Zaheer incident."

Kya sighs, "Well, after all that, it's hard to believe those two have yet another battle to fight. Life's just not fair, Lin-Bear."

Her lips curl at the sound of her old nickname, from when they were kids. Kya still uses it sometimes, probably without realising. She takes one of the cups, blows the surface of the water and looks over the rim at Kya, who, surprisingly, still looks sincere, serious.

"So what's the new battle? What's all this about?" she asks, not sure she even wants to know the answer.

She listens, patiently, as Kya details things that sounds from absurd, to incredulous, to horrific. Were it anyone else, she'd laugh in their face. But Kya keeps a calm expression, a still tone the whole time, and she notices that the other woman's hands are trembling around the held cup. She fights off an urge to cover the hands with her own, to comfort Kya.

"So, Asami's not… Asami anymore?" She did wonder why someone so… _caring_ would suddenly attempt a murder, it hadn't made a whole lot of sense.

"We don't know for sure, but she's definitely being influenced."

She closes her eyes. _Those poor damn kids_, after Zaheer, now this. It makes her sick to her stomach, but she still has a role to fulfil, and she can't change that.

"I… still have to bring her in. She's clearly dangerous."

"I know. I'm sure they know it too. But Lin, imagine if you were in Asami's shoes… the poor girl is probably terrified."

_A demon in your belly, doing who knows what from the inside_. Lin shudders at the thought.

"I suppose Korra's not having much fun, either." She gulps the last mouthful of tea, and sets aside her cup.

"Watching a loved one suffer, having all the power of the avatar, not being able to do anything…" Kya sighs the words, looks close to tears.

"I'll make… special arrangements. We'll restrain her, but create a special cell, like Varrick had."

"You can do that?" Kya looks visibly brighter at the idea, rests a hand on Lin's thigh, and leans in close.

She coughs at the sudden contact, feeling sure there's a heat rising to her cheeks as she awkwardly looks away, "I'm the chief of police. I can pull strings when I need to. But, I need to know where they are… and quickly, before anyone else gets hurt."

Kya pauses before answering, clearly conflicted. She waits, though it's hard to be patient. Eventually, Kya's eyes meet hers, and the answer comes at last.

"There's a place Korra's been putting together. I've helped her out there a couple of times."

"Then let's go." Lin nods towards the door, stands up, and is nearly bowled over by a suddenly excited Kya.

"Yay! Lin-bear and Kya-koala back in action!" Kya giggles, takes her hand, and she's feeling like she's thirty years younger as she's led outside to her own car.

::

Asami holds Korra as closely as she can, enjoys the sensation of the naked body against her own, and nuzzles herself against Korra's neck, feeling a strong pulse beat beneath her lips. She sighs against the skin, and smiles as Korra pulls their blanket up further, cocooning them both inside its warmth.

"I guess Lin will be here soon." She whispers, feeling a sense of loss, before it's even happened.

"I'm surprised she isn't here already." Korra answers, stroking her hair, "We can still get away. I know a few places."

"No… I want to stay here. Hopefully we'll figure something out…"

The uncertainty of what'll happen next is still tearing away at her, though spending time alone with Korra has taken the edge off the fear, stemmed her anxiety, at least for a short time.

Morning light is starting to creep in through cracks in the window slats, and she's tired, maybe from their frenzied lovemaking, or maybe from being awake most of the night, albeit not realising it. Her eyelids become heavy, and she's nodding off just as a quiet knock sounds at the door.

"Korra? Asami?" Kya's voice, though muffled behind the large, oak door, "It's me… and Lin. Can we talk to you?"

"Come in. It's open." Korra shouts, though there's a clear resentment to the tone.

There's a click as the handle turns, and the two older benders enter the house. Surprisingly, Lin has a soft expression… almost even _sympathetic_. She struggles not to laugh. If Lin's pitying them, then there truly is no hope.

"Uh, did you two want to get dressed?" Lin looks at them and then looks away, clearly embarrassed.

"Not really." Korra says, matter-of-factly. She squeezes herself against Korra's body all the more, mildly amused by the rebellious streak.

"Aww Lin, they're so cute. Do you think we could be that cute?" Kya openly flirts with Lin, and Asami bursts out laughing at the exchange, especially at the colour rising up Lin's face. She feels Korra's chest jerking too, with barely restrained laughter.

Korra coughs, "Anyway, take a seat. We know why you're here."

Wooden chairs are pulled forward, and Lin sits, looks deep in thought.

"So, what's the plan?" Asami breaks the silence, feels Korra stiffen at the words.

"Kya's explained everything… yours is a… peculiar circumstance. I've arranged to have an old cell retrofitted into something a little more accommodating."

"Accommodating?" Korra asks.

"There's a proper bed. Radio. Phone. Workbench. Bathroom. But it's still a cell, still behind bars, and she'll still be fed by us, watched by us."

Asami's mood lifts slightly at the news. With a phone and workbench, she can still work, still engage with Rei over business matters.

"The bad news is, your sentence is indefinite. Until you both figure out a way to get that _thing_ out."

"Like hell it is!" Korra snaps, and Asami places her palm against Korra's chest, trying to calm her.

"What else would you have us do, Korra?" Kya speaks, softly, "Sweetheart, I know this isn't fair, to either of you… but look at what happened with Kuvira."

Asami clears her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her.

"It's fine, Korra. Lin – it's more than I could have ever hoped for, thank you. I'll get ready now."

"Asami, no!" Korra looks at her with despairing eyes.

"It's okay, baby… it's for the best…" she looks towards Lin, "Korra can enter the cell any time, right?" she asks, suddenly worried what she'll do if the answer's no.

"Yes, she can even live there for all I care. But you'll be supervised... no funny business."

She breathes a sigh of relief, "Then it's settled. I'll have Rei whip up a story about a long business trip I'm on…"

"_They are all fools if they think bars can stop me…"_

She tenses up at the words. _Shit! Not now!_

"You okay, Sato?" Lin asks. Must have seen her expression change.

"I'm fine, just nervous… Can you pardon us for a few minutes, whilst we change?" She manages to quickly speak the words, even though anxiety burns hotly at the back of her skull.

"We'll wait outside." Kya nods, takes Lin's hand, and they leave, closing the door behind.

"Korra… he's… here…" she chokes the words, squeezes her eyes shut as Korra's palms are placed either side of her face.

"_Nothing can stop me. I will soon kill Korra."_

"You would have done so already, if you could. You're bluffing."

"_Am I? Did you enjoy your sleepwalk last night? Hah!"_

She can almost feel Vaatu leering, and senses the seething, swirling red and black mist at the back of her mind. She opens her eyes, and her heart crumples when she sees tears streaming out of delicate, blue eyes.

"Korra… I'm so sorry… but we have to go. Now." She places a hand to the side of Korra's cheek, tries to drown out the sneers, the mockery from Vaatu, and quickly kisses her.

By the time they're dressed, Vaatu's thankfully gone quiet again. She leaves the house in Korra's arms, they get into the back seat of Lin's car, and they're driven to her new 'home' in relative silence.

::

::

**an:**

Harmony is shifting to Wednesday releases, but to make up for my absence, you can have this one early.

I'd love to hear some feedback! Even bad stuff, I can take it! ;-p


	12. Poison

Asami smiles.

It's everything that Lin said it would be. If she didn't look at the bars, she'd think she were in a modest studio-style flat. It's been four days since she moved in, and whilst it took some getting used to, things could certainly be worse.

Better still, Vaatu's been silent, and she hasn't had any unwanted midnight adventures, or so Korra has assured her.

She sits at her work table, picks up a pencil and chews on the end. She finds it strangely easy to focus on the schematic in front of her, all things considered… although, she'd find it even easier if Korra wasn't busy pacing around the room right now, scowling.

"Korra… do you think you can get a few files and blueprints for me from the office?" she asks, trying to take Korra's mind off their situation.

"Uh… sure, whereabouts are they?"

She gently takes Korra's wrist, notices a split second of discomfort and even withdrawal from Korra at the touch. At first she puts it down to Vaatu being a part of her, inside of her… but then she runs her fingers across the skin there. There's remnants of scars, really faint, from Korra's imprisonment… from Korra's torture. From _Zaheer_.

An almost familiar anger starts to well inside of her, but she chokes it back down.

"Asami?" Korra asks, waiting for her to finish her request.

"Sorry… I was lost in thought. They're in the top right drawer at my desk. Just grab everything in there. Please?" She asks, smiling up at Korra.

"Anything for you." Korra says, half-jokingly, kisses her lightly on the lips then sprints to the door and bangs on the bars, getting a guard's attention to let her out.

Once Korra has left, Asami returns her focus to her work. She's been on the phone to Rei a few times now, to make sure everything's ticking along back at the office, that the city repairs are going as she's planned. She's even used newly designed loudspeaker technology to partake in board meetings. Everyone believes she's really in the south, performing essential research. Korra's helped a little by bending a few windy blasts in the background, causing the line to 'go bad', adding that extra layer of conviction.

She taps the end of her pencil against the blueprint, trying to work out a way to strengthen a particular hinge without causing any loss of movement potential. As her brain ticks over, her eyelids begin to suddenly feel heavy.

Images of cogs of different sizes blur into her mind, twisting and turning, clicking slowly into place ever so reliably, like machinery always does… so long as one keeps it well-oiled and maintained. Droplets of oil spill from one particular cog, and she focuses on it, gasping as she realises the oil is silver, slick. It sends a tendril of both fear and desire through her, two opposing feelings. She backs away from the liquid, terrified as she realises what it is.

It's the poison. The venom that almost killed Korra, crippled her for over two years. If it could cause such damage to someone so strong, who only knew what it could do to a regular person? She backs away further still, and the poison's chasing after her in a thin, sinister tendril, swirling around and around into a fine point. As she retreats, she's vaguely aware that her schematics are growing smaller and smaller, until they're a mere speck in her vision, and she can barely see them anymore. She tries to move her arm, grab hold of the pencil that she's accidentally dropped… it's only then that she notices her left arm isn't her own… it's tipped with thick, pointed claws, her skin black with crimson patterns burning all around.

She gasps and tries to clutch at the alien arm, wrench it from her socket, but her vision blurs and she's suddenly surrounded by familiar hues of green and yellow, spirits swirling through the sky. There's a moment of peace, the poison's forgotten about, almost. And then she sees _him_, floating in the air, eyes closed.

_Zaheer._

He looks at peace. He has no _right_ to be at peace.

She floats upwards and reaches her left hand out, ignoring the alien physique, and grabs at Zaheer's neck. The monk's eye's snap open, and he looks at her in terror as she forces him to the ground in her vice grip, slamming him to the floor.

A few moments later, he looks up at her, smiles, and places a hand on her blackened arm. She tries to clench her grip tighter still, strangle the life out of the bastard that's done so much to hurt Korra, but instead she relaxes her grip and… smiles back at him.

"I have lived only to bring chaos to the world... I never dreamed I would see this day." Zaheer says, in a deep, dry voice, "to gaze up on the Lord of chaos himself… I am not worthy…"

She feels smug at the compliment. This tiny insect, whilst futile in his attempts to wreck chaos upon the world, could be useful.

"If you wish to serve me, I require only one thing." She says.

"Name it."

"The silver liquid you forced into the avatar. I wish to find more."

Zaheer smiles, "Part of it came from _you_, my Lord. My disciples scraped it from the walls of the tree of time upon your demise."

"And the rest? The part not of this world?" she says, impatiently.

Zaheer looks away, apparently now less confident. It irks her.

"A… meteor fell upon the land, tiny, incredibly hard to find. But it contained a fragment of iridium…"

"And?" she grits her teeth.

"We used it, all of it."

"You fool!" she spits, suddenly enraged, clutching her preys' throat again. Disciple of chaos or not, he is dispensable. Everyone is.

"M..m.. master, wait…" Zaheer chokes. She relaxes her grip, allow the idiot to speak, "An ally informed me that some poison still remains, that it was stowed away."

"WHERE?"

"I do not know…"

She growls, clenches her red-tinged fist and lifts Zaheer off the ground, his legs dangling, kicking around in the air. It reminds her of Kuvira, and a smile plays at her lips.

She fists her human hand and punches Zaheer in the face. The bastard literally _flies_, smacks into a tree, and blood spurts from his mouth. _Serves him right for fucking Korra over so badly_. Maybe she'll come back later, finish him off. Kill him, slowly… pull him apart, piece by piece. _Yeah. That'll feel nice_...

She watches Zaheer spit out a few teeth, and resists the urge to finish him off right there. Instead she walks slowly up to the clearly-terrified man, and folds her arms.

"_That_ was for Korra," she states, noticing a look of confusion on the man's face.

"But… why would you care about the avatar?" Zaheer says, blood frothing down his chin.

She frowns. _Why wouldn't I?_ She holds out the red arm, and starts to panic, realising that most of what just happened wasn't her own doing. In fact, none of it was.

_"Vaatu?"_ she tries to talk to the other half dwelling inside her, and hears nothing. Instead, she feels a buzz of amusement well up in her chest. The bastard's enjoying this, taking over her slowly, becoming her.

"Have you yet to take over your vassal fully, my Lord?" Zaheer asks.

That does it. She thought to let him live a while longer, but this bastard almost killed Korra, has the audacity to float around here like he's done nothing wrong… and now, he wants her to become Vaatu. _He deserves to die_.

She kicks him in the ribs, delighted to hear a crunch at the impact. He rolls over, clutching his side. She kicks him again, in the spine, causing him to arch backwards in pain. She grins, her mouth stretching corner to corner, as she puts all her strength into a final kick to his face. She feels bone crunch against her toe, but surprisingly doesn't feel any pain from the impact herself. Zaheer falls to the floor, limp. She's fairly sure he isn't breathing.

"Bah. Boring." She says nonchalantly. Then, she notices a glimmer in the corner of her vision, sparkling against the spirit world sun. Seems the silver has caught up to her.

She smiles, thinking how wonderful it will taste if she reaches out, touches it. She's about to head toward it, then stops, panics as she remembers she's mortal, she's… she is _Asami_. This will kill her. It will _kill her_. She backs away, suddenly terrified, but the poison catches up to her, seeps into her right arm, her human arm, and the pain is unbearable the second it sinks into her skin. It's burning hot, feels like it's tearing every fibre of muscle into tiny pieces atom by atom, disintegrating her into nothingness.

There's a sinister laugh as the poison is also sucked into her left arm, the alien arm. She feels the pleasure that Vaatu feels, the draw of the alien liquid, the malice and power of it. It's like it was made for him, an elixir of dark energy that feeds him.

She's torn between two worlds, her right arm suffering mind-numbing pain, her left feeling pleasure, greed, hunger. Then she looks down upon her torso to see the poison spreading further still, snaking down her body in sickening spirals, and she's suddenly torn asunder with a loud, sickening _crack_, broken into two pieces… one piece, her mortal self, destroyed almost completely as it's consumed by silver… the other, pulsing with bright red streaks contrasting starkly to black skin, growing, feeding hungrily.

A third, dark, clawed hand thrusts upwards from the horrifying split in her rib cage, blood streaming down the fingers, her heart clasped firmly inside a sinister grip, beating, pulsing madly. Her blood burns brightly, streaked with silver and crimson.

"Asami?"

She's snapped awake from her desk, caked in sweat, her heart still pounding in her chest. She claws at herself instinctively, relieved to find that she's still in one piece, shuddering from the aftermath of the pain, terror and confusion she's endured.

"Oh spirits, Korra…" she cries, unsure what else to do, as she's pulled into Korra's bosom.

As she cries into the warm breast, she starts to refocus, remember.

"You should… someone needs to check on Zaheer." She says, quietly, between sobs.

"What... what do you mean?" Korra asks, looking down at her with wide eyes.

"I think… I managed to get into the spirit world, or Vaatu did. And I think he killed him. Or I did. Korra… I'm really not sure… it might have been a dream."

"Shh, it's okay. I'll call Lin now," Korra says, though she can see deep frown lines above Korra's eyes as she heads to the phone.

It's been the most real, intense dream she's had so far, for sure. She thinks back to it, trying to skip the part where she thought she'd die from pain. Vaatu's obsession with this liquid, surely there's some answer to all of this from that? Her mind twists and turns, and then she pulls her thoughts back, simplifies the problem. Like anything in life, if you overcomplicate matters, you miss the obvious answer.

Suddenly her mind surges, and she's excited. _Of course!_ Everything has an opposite, an adversary. If the poison can attract and feed Vaatu, then there must be a way to repel and destroy him. An antidote to a poison, basically. It's that simple.

She's mutely aware of Korra talking on the phone, nodding occasionally. She doesn't much care. She has an answer, at last. They can be rid of Vaatu, they can live in peace, like they deserve to.

Korra walks over.

"Lin's getting someone to check now, and sending medical officers just in case."

"I guess I won't have the luxury of this cell for much longer… who knows what they'll do to me now…"

"Don't say that. We don't know anything for sure… it might have just been a dream this time."

"I hope you're right. But, Korra… the dream made me realise something… I might have an answer. I need to call Rei."

"What do you mean?" Korra looks suddenly hopeful, and it's a joy to see.

"The poison."

"What?"

"It pulled Vaatu here, way before his time. He loves it, it feeds him, makes him strong… If we can engineer an antidote…"

Korra looks at her, and she can see cogs literally turning in her mind.

"You can get _rid_ of him?" Korra gasps.

"I… I don't know. But we'll need some of the original poison, and I'm not sure it even exists anymore."

There's a long, heavy silence hanging in the air, and Korra turns away, looking solemn.

"There's… there's some left, I think. At Toph's."

She rushes forwards, grasps Korra's hands in her own.

"Really? Are you sure? Korra, this could be it, the answer!" she exclaims, staring into Korra's beautiful, bright blue eyes.

"I'll try get it. I'll be as quick as I can. Will you be okay?"

"I… I think so… take it to my lab. I'll have Rei make the arrangements." She says, as Korra embraces her and then swiftly heads to the door.

She picks up the phone, and discusses the summary of her plan with Rei, making sure that the phone's passed on to her lead scientist, Hiro. She explains to him in detail exactly what is required.

"As soon as Korra brings the poison, I need you to break it apart bit by bit, then replicate it."

"Ma'am, are you sure?" he asks, clearly somewhat aware of the nature of the vile liquid. Word probably spread quickly after what it did to Korra.

"Don't question me, Hiro." She warns. She has little time for her subordinates to talk back. They will do as they're told, or else…

"N... no ma'am. Of course." Hiro stutters, "My team will reverse engineer it in no time."

As she puts the phone down, she smiles, smugly. Vaatu has no chance. Once she knows how the poison works, once she's re-created it… then, she can create an antidote…

::

Later that night, Lin barges into her cell, frowning.

"Sato, what are you up to? I give you all this freedom," she says, sweeping her arms wide, "and yet you still somehow manage to nearly kill Zaheer?"

"He's alive?" she tries to hide the twinge of disappointment from her voice.

"Barely. Might not make it through the night… how the hell did you do that?"

"It… it wasn't me, Lin." She says, quietly.

"Do you think I don't know that? Doesn't help us any!" Lin exclaims, clearly frustrated, "what am I supposed to tell my superiors, that Zaheer nearly beat _himself_ to death?"

"You could tell them that the spirits attacked him…" she offers.

Lin pouts, blows air out of her nose in a huff and looks towards the door, which slowly opens again. Katara enters the room, with an expression of both sympathy and sorrow.

"Asami… I'm so sorry, but, this was all we could think to do..." Katara says, bowling, sadly, and bringing out a vial of herbs.

"What's this?" she asks, suddenly on edge, sitting up on the bed.

"Herbs that will allow you to rest, and prevent you from entering the spirit world."

It's a polite way of telling her she'll be forced into an induced coma. She knows it. She recognises the herb, should do, since her bio team discovered it. It's been used to ease the suffering on soldiers dying from fatal wounds, and to this date that's _all_ it's been used for.

"But I… I found an answer. Korra will be back soon… I found an answer!" she says, panic entering her voice. She doesn't want to be put into a coma, especially if it might be permanent.

"You need not worry. I can wake you from this." Katara says, and she can sense no lie in the words, "Please, Asami. Before you... before _he_, can harm anyone else…"

"But I need to be here, I can make a cure… Korra will…"

Before she can speak further, Lin's holding her back, and Katara's holding the herbs to her nose, a sorrowful, apologetic expression on her face.

She soon stops fighting. It's kind of nice, actually. Her body goes limp, feels relaxed for the first time in months. Her mind spins, but not unpleasantly so… her vision fades in a spiral, blackening out, and she smiles. Finally, a good night's sleep. Finally…


	13. Betrayal

Katara sits quietly beside Asami's bed, and tries to calm her troubled mind. She's restless because Korra will be back at any moment and she has no idea how she'll explain any of this. Goodness only knows how Aang would have reacted if someone had done this to her, regardless of the reasoning behind it.

Korra will no doubt be furious… and she's actually a little afraid.

"K.. " Asami's lips move suddenly, and part of a word is spoken.

It's not the first time she's seen Asami try to sleep-talk… though with the current level of sleep it shouldn't technically be possible. Katara leans closer.

"Kill them…"

She backs away, shocked. Asami's still sound asleep, but is now muttering away, almost silently. She leans closer again, grimacing as she makes out the words.

"Kill them all. Kill them all. Kill them all."

It's whispered, spoken time after time as though in an endless loop. Katara shakes her head, knowing full-well that this isn't a good sign. Even though Asami's out cold, seems some deep part of Vaatu's ego is manifesting. She's worried that putting Asami into a drug-coma might not have been the best idea, but in the last week there have been no more incidents, neither here nor in the spirit world.

The chanting stops suddenly, and she bends forwards again, gasping when she sees a single tear falling down Asami's pale cheek.

"Luna…" Asami's lips form the word slowly, and this time the sound is barely audible.

Katara frowns. Luna – _what is that? A name? A place?_ No more words are spoken, and the only sound in the room is from Asami's deep breaths, and an old grandfather clock, ticking loudly in the background. Each second draws the inevitable confrontation with Korra… with the avatar.

::

She's been gone a week, and Korra's frantic with worry. She beckons Oogi onwards, and she can make out the skyscrapers of Republic City now, so there's not long to go. She'll soon be home, and Asami's scientists can make an antidote… and things can finally go back… back to how they were. She smiles at the thought, though the weight of the rock in her pocket constantly brings her mood back down.

It hadn't been easy to get it off Toph, that's for sure. She wonders if the old woman will even speak to her again after all of this. She hopes so… she thinks back to their exchange, grimacing for most of it…

"You want to do _what?_ Are you insane? Have you finally lost it?" Toph paces around the room, flashing occasional, seething glances at her.

"Come on Toph… Asami can do this. I believe in her."

"You _think_ you believe in her!" Toph prods a finger into Korra's chest, "What if Vaatu's already manipulating her? From everything you've told me, I wouldn't be surprised."

"I'd... I'd know. Look, we _have_ to try this. It's the only way…"

"I should have destroyed this stuff, don't know why I kept it. Anyway, the answer's no!"

"But!"

"No means no, kiddo. If her science-guys figure out how it ticks, they can make more…"

"They have to do that, how else can they make an anti.."

"Don't you see? Are you that _dense?_ If Vaatu's doing all of this, you're playing right into his hands."

"She's not Vaatu! Damn it!" Korra clenches her fists, fights back tears of frustration.

"You can't put the entire world in danger, doesn't matter how much you love her. Just think what he could do with that stuff. I mean really, really _think_." Toph looks at Korra, and shakes her head slowly.

Korra clenches her fist tighter, the lump in her throat turning into a feeling of bitter rage. She _has_ to get the poison… she _has_ to save Asami. She punches the wall of the hut, causing the entire room to shake.

"Like you even know what love is!" she blurts, tears streaming down her face, "Do Lin and Su even _know_ who their father is yet? I bet you've never loved a single person in your entire, miserable life…"

Toph's face hardens at the words, and she scowls, then turns her back to Korra. There's a heavy silence, then Toph takes a deep, shaky breath.

"Take it. Go. It's your problem, you'd better fix it after it goes wrong, when it all comes crashing down around you."

"Toph.. I.. I'm.."

"Can it. Get your damn ball of evil, and get out."

Korra grits her teeth, grabs the earthen lump from the shelf, and heads outside, taking one look back first. Toph's still facing away, eerily quiet.

"I SAID GET OUT!" the woman yells, and the voice is barely recognisable. Korra turns, and runs… back to Oogi. Back to Asami. Back towards… home.

She opens her eyes, fresh tears streaming out. She'll have to make this up to Toph, one day. But for now, she's made her decision, and she has to stand by it.

She coaxes Oogi to land at the Air Bison stable. Nobody's around, probably because morning has only just broken. It's her least favourite time of day, she's barely slept whilst airborne, but she still takes a moment to look at the sky, smiles at the ribbons of colour folding over each other. She's tempted to head to the prison, to check on Asami... but she knows she's supposed to drop the poison off first, and get Asami's team working on it.

She grabs a glider from the stable, snaps it open and flies off the island, towards the recently-rebuilt future industries tower. It's even more impressive than the old one, though Asami had designed it this way for practical rather than aesthetic reasons, or so she'd said when waving the blueprints excitedly at Raiko to get his eventual sign-off.

In all honesty Korra's impressed that they got the tower up so quickly…. But then again, that's the power of bending , especially metal and earth. She swoops upwards, landing on the ledge that Asami had insisted be built just outside her office window. The avatar-glider landing pad. It even has little yellow lights to illuminate the area for night landings.

She lands, dusts herself off and walks into the office. It's empty, as she'd expect. She pushes open the large double doors leading into the hallway, and spots Rei furiously scribbling something at her desk, surrounded by mountains of paperwork.

Korra coughs quietly to get her attention.

"Korra!" Rei exclaims, beaming excitedly, "I've been expecting you. Do you have it?"

She fumbles in her pocket, grimaces at the touch of earth against her skin. Just knowing what's inside there makes her want to vomit, right there and then. She holds back her repulsion, and manages to smile weakly instead.

"It's here," she says, gingerly handing it over, "Tell them to be careful when they open it. VERY careful."

"Oh, they're always careful. Miss Sato is very strict when it comes to safety."

Rei picks up the phone, quickly addresses someone, telling them to come get the artefact. Then she turns back to Korra.

"How is Asami, anyway?" Rei asks.

"Oh, I uh… haven't seen her since I got back. She told me to drop this off first," Korra says, though she's bothered by the question, "wait, you haven't heard from her? I've been gone a week…"

"No… I figured she was busy, or had gone with you…"

Korra feels a surge of panic flood into her core, and bile bubbles up in the pit of her stomach. She sprints back to the office, only vaguely aware of Rei still speaking as she grabs the air-glider and dashes off the ledge, flicking it open mid-descent and flying at full-speed towards the prison.

It doesn't take long to get there. She barges into the entrance, and stares down any guard even thinking of stopping her as she makes her way to Asami's cell.

It's empty. _What the fuck?_ She grits her teeth, grabs the nearest guard by his collar. He's young, and his eyes go wide, bright with fear.

"_Where is she?_" Korra growls.

"I uh… they don't tell me anything like that. Please don't hurt me…" he whimpers.

She sighs, releases him, and heads back towards the entrance.

"Where's Lin?" she asks one of the door-guards.

"Probably at the office, ma'am." The guards says. He's older, speaks in a gruff voice.

She nods at him in thanks, and heads a block down the street. Sure enough, Lin's office light is already lit, even though it's barely seven in the morning. She goes inside, storms up the steps to the second storey, and heads straight to Lin's desk, slamming her palms on the wooden surface, stirring Lin from an apparent paperwork-induced daze.

"Where the hell is Asami?" she demands.

"_You_ need to calm down." Lin says, glaring at her.

"Calm down? Nobody in the office has heard from her all week… what the hell have you done with her?" she says, pacing the room, starting to fear the worst.

"Did you…?" Korra can't finish the sentence. They wouldn't kill her. Surely…

"She's alive. We're not monsters."

"We? Who else is involved?_ And where is she?_ Damnit Lin! I'll tear the city apart if I have to!"

Lin sighs, rubs a thumb and forefinger to her right-side temple.

"She's with Katara, back at the air temple. But you better keep your damn cool over there…"

She doesn't stay any longer to question why Asami's been moved. It doesn't matter. Korra glides over to the temple as quickly as she can, practically bursts into the entrance hall.

"Tenzin? Katara?" she yells, chucking the glider against the nearest wall.

"Korra!" Tenzin bustles out of a nearby meditation room, "Are you here to see Asami?"

She looks at him and folds her arms.

"I suppose it was a rather absurd question. Follow me."

She follows in silence, wishing that he'd walk faster.

"Korra, please understand, we did what we must." Tenzin says quietly, as they round the next corner. Looks like they're headed to the west wing.

"What do you mean?" she tries to keep the panic out of her voice, though their pace has increased now.

"Since she manifested in the spirit world, caused someone bodily harm… it became evident Vaatu harbours power there."

"And?" she asks.

Her heart's racing, almost at the same speed as Tenzin's heels, clacking loudly against the tiled floor. She isn't sure she wants to hear any more of this.

"If he were to re-visit there, it would have only been a matter of time before he'd manipulate the spirits, build an army… Korra, please understand. We had no choice."

No choice for what? Korra's heart pounds in her ears, terrified at what the words could even mean.

Tenzin pauses in front of a closed door, and it's a room she hasn't been to before. She pushes it slowly open, and immediately finds Asami, asleep on a cot, and Katara at her side. She hurries over, gazes down at the pale figure. Asami looks frail, weak, and malnourished. The sight tears at her heart.

"What did you do?" she whispers angrily, blinking back tears, staring into Katara's sad, old eyes.

Katara looks away, so she reaches out, grabs her wrist. She tries to bite back the anger toiling away deep within.

"Korra…" she hears Tenzin warn. She slackens her grip.

"We forced her into an induced coma, using Relmroot."

The words spin in her head for a few moments, until they sink in.

"_YOU DID WHAT?_" she roars and stands, and it takes every ounce of willpower to not tear the room up. She glances at Asami, and tries to keep calm, for her safety if nothing else.

Tenzin rushes to Katara's side, and glares at Korra as if daring her to make an aggressive move.

"Wake her up." Korra barely recognises her own voice, it's deeper than she remembers, and her throat almost burns as she speaks.

"Korra... there have been no more incidents since…" Tenzin starts to explain, but she cuts him off, pacing the room.

"I don't care! Did you even think this through? What if putting her to sleep allowed him to take over sooner? And just… LOOK AT HER!" she yells, sweeping her arm towards the bed, "You've had her like this for a _week?!_ Are you just waiting for her to die?"

"We've kept her well-nourished…" Katara speaks quietly, almost fearfully.

"She looks like death… she even… she has bed sores! I can see them from here!" Korra runs a hand down Asami's arm, inspecting the sore skin, then stares at Katara, "I won't ask nicely again. Wake. Her. Up."

"As you wish, Avatar Korra." Katara speaks the words firmly, heads to a shelf and pulls down a vial, "You will have to watch her during the day. We will still have to force her to sleep at night."

"We'll see what she has to say about all of this, before _you_ make any more decisions on her behalf." Korra spits the words, her own voice sounding harsh to her ears.

She puts a hand behind Asami's back, lifts the unconscious woman into a sitting position, where Katara wafts the vial beneath a ghostly-pale nose. It works almost immediately, and Asami's eyes slowly open.

"Ohhh... I don't feel so good…" Asami croaks the words, and Korra feels a wave of relief wash over her.

"Shh, the nausea will pass in a moment. Try to be still." Katara says, holding Asami carefully by the shoulder.

"Hey, Asami…" Korra says, gently reaching her hand out, and smiling as Asami grasps onto her fingers.

"Korra… how long was I out?" Asami smiles, entwining fingers into hers.

"Almost a week. Do you remember anything?"

Asami chuckles, "Only being forced to take a nap. Honestly, I feel rested… I didn't sense Vaatu at all, and I didn't have any bad dreams."

"The herb forces the mind into its deepest sleep state, where even dreams cannot occur." Katara explains.

Korra frowns at her, "This doesn't mean you're forgiven."

"Korra… don't be angry. She made the right choice. I haven't hurt anyone else… so it's probably for the best, okay?" Asami looks at her with pleading, bright eyes.

"But… you can't just sleep forever!" Korra exclaims.

"Well, maybe just at night?" Asami turns to raise an eyebrow at Katara, apparently seeking the older woman's counsel.

"If Vaatu has never controlled you during the day, then I suppose we can try…" Katara reasons.

"You could have just done that in the first place!" Korra snaps.

"No, Korra. We couldn't. Not without you here… we'd need the avatar to stop Vaatu if he manifested."

Korra growls to herself, but her mood brightens when Asami smiles at her. Then Asami's face shifts to one of concern, and Korra feels her fingers clasped more tightly.

"What about Zaheer… did he… did I…?" Asami's voice quivers at the words.

"He will be in hospital for quite some time, but he will live." Tenzin answers.

"Oh…!" Asami grimaces, holds her stomach.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Korra panics.

"I'm starving…" Asami says, blushing slightly, lowering her head. Korra bursts out laughing, and the tension in the air eases off, just a little.

"I'll prepare some food, feel free to use the washrooms in the meantime." Tenzin nods, then heads towards the door.

"Thanks…" Asami says, weakly.

"You are welcome. I hope you feel better soon."

Katara also stands, "I'll see you at the dinner table. And Korra… I hope you can forgive us, but I also hope you know what you're doing…" the words trail off as she quietly leaves the room.

Korra's grateful for the chance to be alone with Asami. She smiles and rubs her thumb against Asami's palm, happy to feel warm skin, ecstatic that Asami's alive.

"Korra… after I've eaten and washed, can we swing by the office? I need to make sure Hiro has a couple of things." Asami asks, looking right into her eyes. She's missed that gorgeous, green gaze.

"For the poison?"

"Yeah. They're gonna need some of my blood."

"Your blood?!"

"I'm hoping they can extract Vaatu's essence from it. The original poison contained it, scraped out of the tree of time."

"Oh."

Asami then goes on to explain in very scientific detail how they will also have to create a compound that's as close a match as possible to a certain alien metal… Korra tries to pay attention, but her eyes start to glaze over.

"I guess I lost you." Asami smirks.

"Just a little. But hey, Asami… are you sure about all this?"

Asami places a second hand over hers, sandwiching it between two palms.

"I'm _absolutely_ certain. We can beat him. Just you watch."

Korra grins, her doubts cast aside by Asami's confident, beautiful smile.

"So, care to join me?" Asami says, one corner of her mouth twitching upwards.

"Join you?"

"In the shower, you dork." Asami chuckles, then shakily stands from the bed. Korra offers her shoulder as support, and they head to the bathroom, together…

Korra's anxiety from the past few days is soon washed away, both by the hot water streaming down her back, and by the feel of Asami's lips, grazing across hers. They kiss one another tenderly, wash each other slowly. Korra spends some time carefully bending water over Asami's sore patches of skin, healing them completely.

Afterwards, they cocoon themselves in a single large, soft bath towel, embracing tightly and forgetting about the world, even if only for a short time.

Then Asami's tummy practically roars… Korra chuckles, impressed as always by the volume and sheer ferocity of those hunger pangs.

"Food?" she asks.

"Food." Asami agrees.


	14. Darkness

It's like every other night over the course of the week. Korra kisses her goodnight, and she settles down next to her in bed, ready to receive her 'dose' of Relmweed.

Asami's been spending most days getting up to speed on business at the office, and Rei's pile of paperwork has finally decreased to a more manageable stack. She's considering recruiting a trainee to help Rei out from now on, and intends to broach the subject tomorrow.

A tinge of excitement floods through her. _Tomorrow_. According to Hiro, the antidote should be ready by then. His team have been working meticulously, putting extra hours in, and she couldn't be more grateful. Korra must be equally as excited, she can see it in her eyes.

"Just one more day." She whispers, and Korra nods, bursting into a wide grin.

Katara walks over with a bowl. She's actually started to look forwards to this… it's a very peaceful sleep, and despite Katara telling her that she'd said some very cryptic things once, she's never felt Vaatu probe her mind. She hasn't been taken over by weird surges of anger. All in all, she's been feeling perfectly fine.

She smiles as Katara holds the bowl close, and inhales deeply from the still-steaming contents.

::

_It is time. _

Vaatu has waited patiently, but he knows he must strike now. His host is in the deepest recess of slumber, from a drug so potent that it even affects him, renders him unable to enter the spirit world.

But it doesn't render him fully unconscious, it never has. He gathers his strength in dark waves, willing himself closer and closer to consciousness. He seeks out Asami's mind with his own, pushing and probing in the back of her grey matter. Finally, he finds her, and feels a pang of repulsion. It pleases him.

"_Asami."_ He says, barely concealing his glee.

"Vaatu? How are you here? Am I still asleep?"

"_Oh yes, very much so."_

"Then how can I…"

"_I lifted your consciousness one level higher, so that we may speak."_

"What do you want?"

He feels fear spike through Asami's mind at the question, in a bright pulse of red, and he devours it whole.

"_Your fear is delicious." _

Asami doesn't respond. He smiles, smugly.

"_Do you know, I could have taken over your body at any point over the last two weeks?" _

"You're lying."

"_Oh no. It is just that much more enjoyable when I allow someone to feel hope, only to then pull it away from them, smash it to pieces at the last minute."_

"You're lying…!"

He feels his host's despair, and he grins wickedly at the sensation.

"_Oh, am I now? Tell me, young Sato… about your idea to make an antidote. An idea that just so happens to involve the re-creation of the silver poison."_

"You won't be so smug once I inject that…"

"_Hush, foolish mortal! Is it not by now obvious? I have controlled your every thought, your every desire and urge, since the very moment I entered your fragile husk."_

"No…"

"_Oh, yes. Your deep-seated hatred made it so very easy to manipulate you, and your seething anger fed me well. Do you remember it? The pleasure, the enjoyment as you punished your enemies, choked the life out of them, and broke their bones. You wanted to kill them…"_

"_Stop it!_"

Vaatu suddenly feels impatient, irritable. Toying with this worm was fun, for a short while. But now, it is getting boring.

"_Your physical form, and your mind, now belong to me. I shall obliterate everything that you are, everything that you ever were."_

"Wait! Pleas…"

He cuts her off, dives into her mind and pushes the last trace of her consciousness into the deepest possible recess. He considers obliterating her completely, but he will need to draw upon her knowledge to fulfil his needs, to complete his plan.

At last… blissful silence. He will miss the delicious taste of her anger, and her fear, but there will soon be a far tastier, and much bigger dish to savour. He waits, patiently, until day break. He knows he could wake up any time, but it is important that he maintains the ruse, for just a little while longer.

::

Morning breaks.

He feels the avatar leave the bed, tries to control the urge screaming through his body to reach out and strangle the very life out of her. He has to be calm, this body is relatively weak. He has not yet reached the point where he can use it to bend elements.

He opens his eyes slowly, and uses the muscle memory from his host to force what should be a natural-looking smile.

"Hey, gorgeous." He says, trying not to wince at a voice that does not sound like his own, trying not to vomit at the words he must speak.

"Hey yourself," the avatar says, leaning down to kiss him. A shudder runs through his body, "you okay?"

"I'm fine, just… excited about the antidote. And also hungry." He lies. It will do. This host has an exceptional appetite after all.

"I'm excited too. And hungry. Want me to fry up some breakfast?"

"No, I'll pick up something on the way to the office. Thanks though!"

"Any time." The avatar winks. He forces another smile. It hurts his cheeks.

He follows the same routine that his host usually does, dealing with the tedious matter of emptying his bladder, and brushing his teeth. This one also has a slight obsession with hair, so it takes him a while to get the correct shape… he has to stop himself from cursing out loudly on several occasions.

Thankfully, the mortals have learnt to trust that 'Asami' is herself during the day. They do not bother to place a guard on Vaatu, so he leaves the island by boat, docks, and heads towards the office. Even the avatar agrees that he can attend office matters alone, whilst she deals with so-called 'Avatar businesses'. He spits to the ground, causing a nearby woman to look at him in disgust. He looks right back at her, scowling, and resists the urge to rip her face off.

He continues on down the street. Perhaps he should have driven. He has the knowledge… but then again, it feels nice. Watching people go about their business, and knowing that every single one of them will soon be dead. This forces a rather large grin to his face.

"Miss Sato?" An old man dares to address him.

"Yes?"

"You looked weird for a moment there. You want the usual?"

_The usual?_ He scans his hosts' memories. Ah… it's a noodle bar. She often grabs a bite here on the way to work. _How quaint_.

"Yes please." He says, grabbing a few yuan and dropping them on the counter.

He takes the cardboard box and chopsticks, and inhales the steaming noodles, chewing on them as he gets closer to the office. The taste isn't bad, but it pales compared to mortal fear, terror, and rage. He hurries his pace, desperate to feel that taste again sooner rather than later.

::

Korra stretches and yawns as she walks out of the council meeting room. Raiko mainly made small-talk today, which was a nice change. He didn't make any demands for once, didn't complain. He just asked that she help with a few nearby metal bending jobs, which she happily agreed to.

She's about to head towards the construction site, when a young girl calls her by name, holding out a telephone.

"Miss Korra? Sorry, but I have Rei for you…"

"Oh? Okay." Korra feels a slight twinge of panic, though she's hoping the call is good news, and that the antidote's ready. Asami had agreed to call her the moment everything was in place.

"Korra?" Rei sounds quiet, as though she's trying to half-whisper.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Um… it's just that…"

Korra taps her feet, feels restless.

"Asami is acting a little… _off_ today."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she's being way too polite, for one thing…. But I also just caught her eating a takeout with her bare hands, shovelling it into her mouth like she was starving to death."

"Hmmm… well, she did say she was hungry." Korra reasons, though it sounds very out of character.

"That doesn't explain her sending the entire science team home. As far as I can see, she's taken the poison canister, but she's not working on the antidote… you know me, I don't get this science stuff."

That one definitely sends alarm bells ringing.

"I'll be right there." Korra says, feeling a sudden, certain sense of dread as she hangs up the phone.

She tells Raiko that his metal bending will have to wait, runs out of his room to cut off his angry protests, grabs her glider and flies to Asami's office as fast as she can. A myriad of thoughts swirl around her mind, and they all point to the same conclusion… that Vaatu's taken over.

"_If that is the case, Korra…"_ Raava's thoughts are suddenly heard, for the first time in quite a while.

"Are you really going to tell me to kill her again?" Korra asks.

"_We may have no choice."_

Korra doesn't care to respond to such a ridiculous notion. She lands on the small pad, pushes open the door, and finds Asami sat in her office chair, scrutinising a schematic of some sort, empty lunch cartons scattered on the floor, and blueprints strewn across the desk. She looks up and smiles at Korra the second she enters the room.

"Asami… what's going on?" she asks, walking towards the desk.

"Oh, nothing… just checking over some possible design flaws." Asami says, though she appears to be nervously gathering the blueprints into a neat pile.

"In the sewers?" Korra asks, recognising the topmost paper, "I thought you'd finished those."

Asami slides a letter opener across the desk, starts to spin it in idle circles on the surface.

"No, there are a couple of things I'm not happy with."

It's then that Korra notices the metal canister sat on one end of the desk.

"How's the antidote coming along?" she asks.

Asami glances at the canister, then looks at her.

"Not bad. I've let the team have the day off, they've been working late every night for over a week. I figured I can do the rest."

The explanations make sense… but something feels wrong. It's either the way Asami's looking at her, or the way she's talking. Maybe both.

"Asami…" she takes a deep breath, "you are you, right?"

Asami sighs, stands up and walks over to her, pulling her into an embrace. The next thing she knows, she can feel Asami's lips against hers, and she feels a moment of relief because it feels normal, it feels like _her_. Or… it does right until the point where Asami bites sharply into her lower lip, drawing blood.

"What the?" she nurses her sore lip as Asami walks back to the desk.

"_Korra!"_ she feels panic in Raava's voice.

"I planned to draw this out for longer, but I cannot stand the sight of you. I cannot stand this pretence." Asami speaks the words, but it's clearly not her… Korra feels tears spring to her cheeks.

Asami spins to face her, and Korra chokes on a well of emotion when she sees those eyes… bright, angry orange where there should be nothing but peaceful, beautiful green.

"I shall poison the water systems. I shall kill everyone in the city tonight, and then I shall do the same around the world. Unless, that is, you kill me. Or should I say, kill your lover…" Vaatu smirks at the words.

"_Do it…!"_ Raava urges her.

"I'll restrain him… capture him until we can work something out." She speaks inwards, replying to Raava.

"_You cannot. If you restrain him, he will soon become powerful enough to no longer require his host. He will manifest, destroy the host… and he now has the knowledge to create this foul substance…"_

"No…" she says the word out loud, though it's hard to speak between her sobs. Vaatu begins to laugh loudly, looks at her with a sinister expression, but it's worn on Asami's face, and it's tearing her into two. She falls to her knees, a feeling of powerlessness and despair taking over.

"OH? So you will just kneel there and DIE?" Vaatu hisses, "How very generous…"

She watches him reach for the letter opener, and charge straight towards her. It feels as though time runs slower… one moment she's knelt, feeling numb, ready to accept her fate. But the next, she realises she has a world to protect… the air-bender kids, Bolin's future family… and so many others.

Vaatu is already upon her, poised with a lethal blow, as she makes her move.

"_Now!"_ Raava yells inside of her mind, and her eyes flash a brilliant white as she clashes into Vaatu, aiming a lethal fire blast straight to his face. They collide… there's a brief pause, and the room erupts into a golden, shimmering light.

::

Lips… warm, loving. An embrace, both familiar and tender. And the scent… it reminds her of… _home_. There's a swelling in her chest, tender as snow yet fierce as a thousand armies, and it's almost overbearing, threatening to spill over and consume her whole.

_I'm so in love with you, Korra…_

Asami's eyes snap open, and tears stream down her face, her senses violently returning all at once. There's a soft warmth against her lips... Korra's lips. Arms around her back… Korra's arms. She can move again, she can feel, she can _breathe_, and she's overwhelmed by the pounding in her chest.

_Korra!_ She sobs, desperately returning the kiss.

After a few more moments, she feels Korra's pursuit slow to a stop, and she's confused when Korra's body feels suddenly heavy, falls limp against her. The weight begins to drag her down, until she's on her knees. She's suddenly afraid.

"Korra?"

"You're back... I'm so happy... so happy." Korra mumbles, smiling, with tears in her eyes. She reaches up to stroke Asami's cheek, brushing away her tears.

"What's wrong?" Asami asks, and she can't keep the trembling panic out of her voice.

"I love you, 'Sami," Korra whispers, her deep blue eyes slowly glazing over.

The arm falls from Asami's cheek, and Korra's head lolls backwards. There's a long, drawn out sigh, but then Korra's chest stops moving… her lungs don't fill up again.

Asami stares, vacantly, at the motionless body resting in her arms. Waiting for it to move. Waiting for it to breath. It doesn't.

Korra is dead.

It takes her brain a few painful seconds to process.

She feels a warm slickness on her right hand, and realises she's holding onto something in front of Korra's chest. She trembles as she looks down, and then she _screams_.


	15. Light

There's darkness… nothing but darkness, and the sensation of falling very slowly through an endless, open space.

_Am I dreaming?_

Korra feels so very, very tired... she wants to sleep, close her eyes… let herself drift away, move on, and welcome whatever comes next. But… there's a nagging sensation that she's leaving something behind, tugging at her mind incessantly, like a twitch in a tired muscle.

Eventually, she learns to tune it out, and her tired eyes begin to close.

She's about to surrender herself to the abyss completely, when a golden light flashes in her mind, giving her a brief moment of clarity and a sudden, violent jolt of energy.

_Asami!_

::

Her eyes snap open and she finds herself floating, formless, in a never-ending expanse of pure, brilliant white. There's nothing to focus her sight upon, just an endless, pale void.

Suddenly, movement draws her attention. She spots a tiny speck that's appeared, from nowhere, and from nothing. The speck quickly grows into a mound, and a small, green sprout shoots out, curling itself upwards, growing into a thick brown shoot. It winds around and around itself until it's at least a person high, and as thick as a lamppost, before opening up at the top into a canopy of beautiful, luminescent green.

It's the tree of time. Korra doesn't know why she knows this, but it's a certainty, a fact.

There's more movement… this time it's a young girl with golden hair, feathered wings of white and a smile of innocence, gently gliding down, and resting beneath the shade. She seems content to lay there, staring up with brilliant blue eyes at the green, newly flourishing life at the top of the tree.

"Hello?" Korra tries to talk, but the words won't form. She gets the feeling she's only here to observe... and the thought doesn't scare her.

A red ball bounces across the white ground slowly, coming to rest by the girl's legs. Korra shifts her gaze to the right and there's a raven-haired boy, with golden-orange eyes and black, velvety wings. He runs up to recover the lost toy, giggling all the way.

"Oh, hello!" the boy says, when he notices the girl.

The girl sits up and smiles, "Hello! Is this yours?" she holds out his ball and he gratefully takes it, a small blush forming at his cheeks.

He sits down, looking up at the tree with an expression of childlike innocence, and awe.

"It's really pretty." He says, running the ball around his hand, as though nervous.

"Yes, I like it too. I think it's the beginning of… well, _everything_. It's so beautiful," she smiles at the boy, blushing slightly.

"Hey, wanna play?" He suddenly asks, flipping the ball up and catching it in both hands.

"Yes! Yes please!" she exclaims, clapping her hands.

"By the way, I'm Vaatu." He says, holding out his hand and grinning widely.

"I'm Raava… pleasure to meet you," she grins from ear to ear.

As they wander away, hand in hand, streaks of colour flood out from beneath the tree, spreading outwards, rapidly transforming the plain, white canvas into a beautiful oil painting, with golden meadows, sapphire steams, and endless fields of green. Further and further the new life spreads, and at the end of it all, the sky explodes into a startling streak of purple.

Korra's overcome with emotion at the spectacle, and tears spill down her cheeks.

Suddenly, the scenery beneath her blurs, and she understands that she's shifting forwards in time... Spirits are born unto the world, and roam the meadows. Lakes and rivers ebb and flow, constantly changing the landscape around them. Life flourishes.

_A millennia passes. _

Vaatu and Raava, now fully grown, hold each other in a tender embrace, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. They turn to face the vastness of the spirit world.

"It is beautiful." Vaatu says.

"I knew it would be," Raava sighs, contentedly.

They smile and turn to kiss one another, a golden light welling up within their chests… it spreads through their bodies, enveloping them completely and with such intensity that it's painful to watch.

The light fades, and Korra sees a large, magnificently bright golden sphere, floating where the two spirits had stood moments ago. Tendrils of gold flicker all around the circumference, and droplets of blue and orange circle slowly at the centre.

They have converged. A spiritual merging of two souls, an occurrence only possible between two greater spirits. Why she knows all this, she still can't fathom. The golden sphere rises into the black infinity above, where the two spirits can watch over the new world together.

Korra continues to watch the world blur forwards, constantly in awe.

_Several millennia pass. _

Mankind appears in the world, born, like everything else, from the tree of time. Mankind is curious, inquisitive and cunning. Their desire to know and learn everything, insatiable. Mankind lives in harmony with the spirits, living off the land.

But before long, it isn't enough…

_A millennia passes. _

Mankind begins to take from the land with no regard to balance. Trees are cut, forests destroyed. Mankind builds comforts, homes and luxuries. It's only when mankind resorts to hunting spirit animals for jewellery and pride rather than warmth, that Raava and Vaatu return to the world.

"We must stop this, mankind has become corrupt, greedy," Vaatu speaks.

"They are still young, my love. They will make mistakes." Raava reasons.

Vaatu pauses, as though in thought, "The spirits should not suffer due to their insatiable needs, we will form a new world for them to destroy, if that is their intent."

Raava sighs, "Very well. But perhaps they will flourish, we should not judge so easily."

Korra feels herself pulled to the centre of the spirit world, back towards the tree of time. She watches the converged spirits form a giant circle on the floor, engraving a pattern of two interlocked tears into the earth, from which pillars of blinding light shoot into the sky.

The golden form of Raava and Vaatu shimmers brightly as they bring forth what Korra knows as _the world_ into existence, on another plane.

Korra senses the passing of time again, this time just a few hundred years, the golden sphere constantly shining brightly. Eventually, the light returns to a steady glow.

"It is done," says Vaatu.

"It's beautiful," whispers Raava.

Korra is thrust into the new world, and her heart throbs at the raw beauty of it. The world is naked and pure, with vast ranges of mountains and rivers, beasts and birds, fish and insects… everything buzzing with life. She inhales deeply, amazed at how pure the air tastes.

_Months pass. _

Mankind follows its own natural curiosity and enters the portals. So vast and bountiful is the land beyond, mankind choses to stay there and flourish in a new world that they can call their own.

_A millennia passes._

A new spirit child is born into existence, beneath the tree of life. One eye of golden orange, the other blue. She has soft, auburn hair, pale skin, and feathered, grey wings. She giggles as she runs in circles around the tree, playfully chasing a spirit.

Raava and Vaatu look down upon their child with nothing but unquestionable love. Korra understands that this is the eventual, gradual result of their convergence - a new greater spirit has been born.

Her name is Luna, and she is… _beautiful_.

_Several millennia pass. _

Luna is a young woman now, and intrigued by the world of man. She often spies on them, curious as to why they do the things that they do.

She feels the world is missing something, and one day, when she sees mankind trying to shut out the daylight to aid their slumber, the answer comes to her. She brings forth night and moonlight into the human world, to balance day. Because of this, new life flourishes, previously blinded by the day but able to thrive in the dark.

Raava and Vaatu are proud of their daughter's decision. At night, basked in moonlight, the world looks more beautiful than ever… but at first, mankind fears the dark skies.

It takes only a few weeks more for them to embrace it, the cool darkness a welcome gift after the hot, bright days. Luna is impressed by mankind's ability to adapt.

It's about this time that a young man bumps into Luna, as she sits crouched on the tallest cliff, overlooking a meadow near his village.

"Oh, um… hello!" he says, nervously.

She's shocked at first, but turns to him and smiles…

The boy is immediately entranced by her beauty.

_Months pass. _

Luna visits her new friend frequently, her natural curiosity replacing caution. She finds out that over the millennia, mankind have forgotten about the spirits and the spirit world… they've grown superstitious about the portals in the world, and the "ghosts" that linger near them.

"No, it is not like that at all! They are spirits, not ghosts," Luna giggles, "and the spirit world is beautiful!" she smiles at the boy.

"Can I… can I see?" he asks hesitantly, fearful but inquisitive.

She nods, and leads him to a portal, walking through it with him, where tears immediately flood his eyes. He's lost for words. Luna smiles at the raw, pure emotion.

Later that night, the boy finds himself unable to sleep. He convinces his friends to come and see the wonders he's seen. Only two follow, the rest calling him insane. The next day, ten more follow him. Eventually, word spreads across the land. There's nothing to fear, there is _another_ bountiful land beyond the pillars of light!

_Months pass. _

Mankind creates machines to take into the spirit world, where they begin to ravage and plunder the land, basking in the new resources at their disposal. As they close upon the tree of life, Luna approaches them, furious, an army of spirits behind her.

"You must stop, and return home. This is not your world to take," she warns them.

"An evil spirit!" one of the older humans shouts. "Kill her! Kill her!" he screams, and the hundreds of men charge forwards, roaring, as Luna and her spirits hold fast, defending the tree with their very lives.

Luna clenches her teeth. Claws extend from her hand, and she tries to hold back her bitter tears of disappointment, of betrayal, as she rips into the assailants, shredding them to pieces. She hears herself screaming in despair as bloodshed and carnage flood her senses, and the battle seems to last forever…

Eventually, there's silence, save for her ragged, panting breaths. Luna falls to her back, laying beneath the tree of time, gasping air into her punctured, bloody lungs. They're all dead. She'd had to kill them all. Her heart breaks into two as she sees amongst the crowd of bodies a familiar face… _the boy_. She cries, chokes out the words "I'm so sorry," before breathing her last, and dying beneath the tree.

Korra finds herself crying uncontrollably.

"ARRRGHHHH!" Vaatu roars, as he and Raava suddenly descend back into the spirit world.

"No… Luna…" Raava sobs.

"THEY WILL PAY. I WILL KILL THEM ALL!" Vaatu seethes, furious.

"No, my love… stay… I need you… now more than ever," Raava begs him, though her heart is broken.

Vaatu tugs and pulls, his anger knowing no bounds, until he painfully and physically breaks away from Raava, splitting them back into two, although they no longer resemble their former selves in any way. His black, kite-shaped form soars as fast as the eye can see, straight through a portal and into the world of man.

Raava is paralysed with grief… she can do nothing. She despairs over not one, but two losses.

Korra feels herself tugged into the world of man. There she finds chaos, terror and destruction. Vaatu shreds through every human that he finds, often slicing them clean into two. Men, women, and children... none are spared from his gristly vengeance.

Thousands upon thousands die… Vaatu's onslaught is endless, and Korra feels nauseous, sick to the pit of her stomach. He's about to attack another large village, when Raava suddenly appears, a bright white light before him.

"STOP!" she yells, "Stop this madness, it won't bring her back!"

"WE GAVE THEM EVERYTHING, A NEW WORLD, AND YET THEY TOOK FROM US ALL THAT WE HAD!" he roars the words. A flicker of understanding again enters Korra's mind, and she knows that whilst converged spirits may produce a greater spirit offspring, they can only ever do so once.

"I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL THE FIELDS AND RIVERS RUN RED, UNTIL NO MAN IS LEFT ALIVE!" he screams.

"Then you leave me no choice!" Raava cries, as she darts towards him, latching and twisting her folded tail against his, tugging him to the ground and holding him in place. She swings him against the mountains, against the ground, beating him into submission. The very world shakes beneath her onslaught.

Once Vaatu grows still, Raava tugs him back into the spirit world, where the two will fight an endless war for countless millennia, eventually forgetting who, and what they ever were.

::

The letter opener clatters to the floor, glistening with blood. Korra's blood.

Asami's throat is raw from screaming, and her face is damp from nightmarish tears. She's shaking, staring between her bloodied hand, and Korra's lifeless form. She's only been conscious for a minute, and in that time she's experienced the purest joy, followed by the starkest horror.

She feels numb. There's nothing left inside of her now. Her life is over. Everything is over. She sits in silence, unable to scream or cry any more, and she's only vaguely aware of the golden tendrils of light flowing around the room.

A golden thread crosses over Korra's forehead, then another appears at her side, and then countless more converge at the open wound beneath her heart. Asami gives it no pause for thought… her mind is blank, hey eyes vacant, her soul trapped in a deep recess of nothingness.

It's only when an intense glow illuminates at Korra's chest, and she suddenly chokes for air, gasping life back into her lungs, that Asami plunges out of her despair.

"KORRA!" Asami's face creases from dismay into relief, and she throws herself against her love, pulling Korra into a tight embrace, tears spilling, pouring from her eyes onto Korra's shoulder. She feels Korra's hands slide up her back, thread into her hair, and it only causes her sobs of relief to deepen.

"Asami… I'm so glad you're okay," Korra mumbles, "I just had the weirdest dream..."

Asami inhales deeply into Korra's hair, and holds her close, rocking gently. She doesn't understand what just happened, but she doesn't care… she's elated that they're both alive, and together again.

::

::

**an:** Please leave a review if you've loving the story. It means a lot to me.


	16. Convergence

Korra stares into Asami's gorgeous, green eyes, touching their noses and foreheads together. They're surrounded by threads of golden-orange light, some of which brush softly against their faces, and Korra finds herself feeling more at peace than she has in years.

"_Korra. Asami."_ It's a voice both familiar and new.

Korra turns her head at the same time as Asami, where she finds the source of the golden threads… a glowing, golden sphere, tendrils surrounding its body, and orange and blue droplets circling in its centre.

"_We are Ravatu,"_ the spirit announces, two voices resonating together.

"Raava? And… Vaatu?" Realisation dawns on Korra, as memories from her recent dream flood back to her, "You're converged again?"

Korra smiles at Asami's confused expression, kisses her gently and mouths the words _"it's okay"_.

"_Yes, we are one."_

"How? I mean that's great, I'm happy for you, I just don't really understand." Korra babbles the words… she's bursting with energy, ecstatic to be alive and in Asami's arms.

"_The boundless love that you share for one another, we felt it… and then, we remembered,"_ Ravatu explains.

Vaatu's voice rings out on its own…

"_Asami, when you sacrificed your body to save Korra, something alien stirred inside of me for the briefest of moments, something that had been lost to me for countless millennia. It is part of the reason I accepted your proposal, I was… intrigued."_

Raava speaks next…

"_Korra, you abandoned your attack on Vaatu at the very last second, and embraced Asami with nothing but love in your heart, allowing yourself to die for her,"_ she continues, _"I was surprised by your decision… but when you kissed her, I felt the love swell within your heart as if it were my own." _

Both voices ring out, Ravatu speaks…

"_When your lips met, we felt... everything that you both felt. The purest, deepest love that one can only feel for a soulmate. It restored our consciousness, waking us from a never-ending nightmare. We understood. We remembered who we were, back to the beginnings of time itself. Memories and feelings, long since forgotten,"_

"I saw it… I saw it all…" Korra whispers, her mind reeling at the notion she's seen the beginning of all things.

"_Because you were at the precipice of death, our minds were intertwined, for a brief time…" _

"And then, you brought me back to life…" Korra says, fumbling around her vest, feeling the sticky residue of her own blood, but finding no wound.

"_You had not yet crossed over. We used the energy of life itself to restore you…"_

The spirits pause, as if to allow them both time to process everything. They're still holding each other closely, and Korra strokes her hand through Asami's hair. She suddenly remembers something.

"Wait… what about harmonic convergence? Why would the universe try to make you kill each other every ten millennia?"

"_We were… wrong. The universe was trying to restore balance, but we had long since forgotten that we had ever converged. It became a twisted ritual of dominance instead,"_ Raava and Vaatu sigh, the regret clear in their voices.

After a few more moments silence, Vaatu speaks softly, _"Raava, I am so sorry. I… became a monster. I forgot myself, lost myself completely to rage… how could I ever have forgotten my love for you?"_

"_I am sorry too, my love. But now we are together, we are reborn. I love you, I forgive you, and I would forgive you a thousand times over,"_ Raava says, then there's a brief pause before she continues, _"Korra… We cannot stay here. We have to leave, we have to atone for our sins." _

"Your sins? You haven't done anything wrong!" Korra exclaims, panicking at the thought of losing her closest friend.

"_I did, Korra, I was every bit out of balance as Vaatu, fighting him as blindly as he fought against me. Forgetting myself, as did he. Forgetting my purpose."_

"_We will return to the universe and help to bring balance to the stars themselves. But before we go, Korra…" _

Ravatu seems to smile, and a golden thread of light falls against Korra's forehead.

"_This world will still need the avatar, to maintain balance,"_ Ravatu declares, as a golden light forms against the tip of the tendril.

Korra gasps as a new light fills her, and her eyes glow white-gold. She quickly blinks the sensation away.

"That felt… different, but in a good way." She says, still trembling from the sensation.

"_You are the world's first true avatar of balance. And with it comes a new power, the power to bend energy, the same power we bestowed upon the ancient lion turtles many millennia ago."_

Korra stretches her fingers out and manages to summon a small sphere of golden energy, before it sinks back down, returning to her flesh.

"_With this power, you may bestow or remove bending, heal fatal wounds, prolong life, and cure disease."_

"_Asami…"_ Vaatu speaks, _"What I have done to you, to the both of you, cannot be forgiven. All I can offer you, is some peace,"_ he continues, _"Know this, we have cleansed your mind of the more severe trauma caused by my actions. But the rest is up to you…"_

Asami smiles and Korra's pulled even closer into the embrace, where she hears Asami whisper into her ear, "Korra, this is... amazing…"

"It's a bit scary though, and… it's a lot of responsibility…" Korra bites her lip, nervously.

"If anyone can handle it, you can. Think about it, you've restored balance to the world…"

Korra blushes at the compliment, "No, _we_ have. But I think there's a lot more we still need to do," she pulls back from the embrace and grins at Asami, suddenly looking forwards to a bright future with the most beautiful woman in the world by her side.

Ravatu begins to ascend, slowly.

"_Wan would be proud of you both, Korra, Asami. Farewell, and… thank you!"_ Ravatu says, joy in their voice, as they rise out of the office and into the air, soaring upwards.

::

"_Who would have thought, after all this time, we would be rescued by mortals."_ Ravatu chuckles, as the two venture into the universe beyond, a shining, golden, and bright beacon of hope.

::

The two sit in silence in each other's arms, losing track of time.

"I thought I'd lost you. I saw you die." Asami speaks first, her throat sounds dry, and she clutches Korra closer than ever.

"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere," Korra strokes her hair, reassuring her as best as she can, but as Asami bursts into a new flood of tears, she realises it might take some time for her to recover, emotionally.

Eventually, the tears die down, and Korra looks down to see Asami's eyes are closed, and she's passed out. She pulls back from the embrace, running a thumb across Asami's pale face, before scooping her up into her arms and preparing to head home.

Before she leaves, she turns around, her eyes flashing an already familiar white-gold, and focuses on the canister of poison. She metal-bends the lid off, wills the poison out of the container and swirls it around and around in a compact ball, spinning faster and faster, until it dissolves away into nothingness.

Korra's eyes shift back to blue, just as Rei opens the doors to the office, wearing a face of shock, presumably from the sight of blood smeared across her chest, and on Asami's hand,

"_Long_ story… We're fine but we need rest... Can you watch over things for a couple of days?" Korra smiles sincerely," I promise, we'll explain everything later."

"Of course…" Rei says, bowing slightly.

"Let's go home," she whispers to the unconscious woman in her arms, flying out of the window in her new avatar-state, and heading straight for the Sato mansion.

::

Korra heads into the master bedroom, where she gently lays Asami's sleeping figure on the bed, popping off her boots and coat, carefully undoing and pulling down her pants, and covering her with a blanket. She leaves to get a bowl of water, returns to sit beside Asami and washes the dry blood from her hand.

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through that..." she whispers.

She stays there for some time, playing with strands of Asami's hair, where she falls deep into thought for a while. She ends up thinking about how much they've been through, wondering if there'll be more evils of the world pitched against them. She wonders if anyone else will try to kill the woman she loves, and feels fear creeping into her veins… but before panic takes over, there's suddenly a familiar, friendly presence inside of her mind.

"_Do not worry, Korra,"_ Ravatu speaks.

Korra gasps, "I thought you'd gone?"

"_We did depart your world, but a small piece of us will remain inside you… it is how the avatar cycle will continue,"_ they add, in a confident voice, _"You need not fear, Korra. Together, you and Asami are stronger than anything you know."_

Korra smiles, stands up, and stares out of the window towards the city. Out there, life carries on as usual, but something feels… different. It isn't just the new power. She somehow feels like the air is lighter, and everything out there in the world is calmer, or less intense than before.

::

Asami's eyes open, and the first thing she does is look for Korra. Her eyes adjust to the darkness and she finds her, staring out of the window into the night, apparently lost in thought.

"Korra?" Asami croaks, still half asleep.

Korra turns around as soon as her name is spoken, and Asami feels her heart skip a beat when she sees Korra's beautiful face, and calm, compassionate eyes, illuminated by the moonlight. Then her eyes drift lower, to Korra's still blood-soaked top, and she feels her lower lip tremble.

"Don't worry about that." Korra says, quickly removing the top and discarding it on the floor, "See, all good."

Asami nods, grateful to see a normal, healthy torso. She looks to her hand and notices there's no blood any more. She looks at Korra, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

"I took care of that," Korra smiles, and approaches the bed whilst stripping down to her briefs.

Asami can't tear her eyes from Korra's almost bare body, and her gaze trails up and down. Despite her recent trauma, she absent-mindedly bites into her lower lip, her heart quickening at the sight of Korra's breasts, and those magnificent abs…

"You're not even being subtle, Asami," Korra mocks.

"Woops, you got me," Asami is surprised at herself, for feeling so relaxed, so soon, and after everything they've just experienced. She grins as Korra jumps into bed beside her and pulls the covers around them, wrapping her into a delightful cocoon of blankets and Korra-arms.

They touch foreheads, smiling into other's eyes. _How does she always make my troubles just melt away?_ She wonders, as she snuggles into the welcome embrace.

After a few moments, Korra asks, "Asami… did you need to talk or… anything?"

Asami feels a strange pang of nostalgia, wondering if Korra realises she's just repeated the same nervous words that she'd spoken herself many years ago.

_Do I want to talk?_ Asami wouldn't know where to start… She chuckles at the absurdity of it all, deciding it's best to pour everything out into the open.

"Do you mean talk about when I saw you nearly die to Vaatu, or how he took over my body, almost killed people, and how I was powerless to do anything about it?" she feels Korra pull her closer, sees blues eyes bore into her with heart-warming concern.

She continues, "Or how my body was used to kill you, and after you died in my arms I saw my own hand dripping with your blood?" she finds a few stray hairs in front of Korra's face and brushes them aside, before sighing, "I _should_ be freaking out, I know I should, but honestly, Korra."

Asami pauses to kiss Korra on the lips, "It already feels like it was so long ago. I want to put it behind us… I'm guessing this is the part that Ravatu helped with, because the only thing I feel right now is _joy_. I'm here, with you. We're okay."

There's a long pause, and as Korra's stroking Asami's hair, she realises how she loves to stare right back into those sapphire-blue eyes.

"There's more to it than that," Korra says, eventually, and upon Asami's questioning brow, "Ravatu has done… something. I feel it too, I feel… lighter than I have in years. But I also know that you're an incredibly strong-willed person, someone who can bounce back from anything."

Asami thinks on the worlds…

"I don't know, Korra. When you were in my arms, when I saw you pass away, I lost my mind. I don't think I'd ever bounce back from that," she feels tears well up at the recent memory, "but when you sprang back to life, I felt relief _wash_ over me, you were alive, and nothing else mattered, and I was so _happy_ that I couldn't stop crying." Asami pulls herself closer to Korra, "and I still feel that way, I don't want to think about the bad things that happened, I just want _you_, forever. I never want to lose you again…"

She kisses Korra, stroking her face and revelling in the warmth of her body, pressed tightly against her own. She puts her hand under Korra's chin and brushes her fingers up the tan, warm cheek, where she kisses Korra again, softly, then again… and again. She kisses Korra until she loses count, each kiss returned by welcoming, tender lips.

"I could do this all night," she breathes, her nose at the side of Korra's, their lips millimetres apart.

"Me too," Korra smiles, then yawns loudly, "but… I'm so tired…"

"Same here," Asami kisses Korra once more, and as Korra lies back she rests her head on top of her torso, burying her head against Korra's chest.

"See you in the morning, my love..." she whispers, the calm rhythm of Korra's heartbeat sending her almost immediately back to sleep.


	17. Desperation

Korra wakes up first, which is weird given her hatred of mornings. _Maybe a side effect of the new power?_ She muses.

She smiles softly at the sight of Asami's lightly snoring face nestled into her chest. The black hair's a ruffled mess, which is secretly Korra's favourite style. She ruffles it some more, a cheeky grin appearing at the thought of how Asami will _kill_ _her_ if she finds out.

"Snrrt! Korra! You can't eat…" Asami pauses in her sleep talk, "_seven whole pancakes_… zzzz"

Korra laughs loudly, but Asami doesn't stir. _Pancakes don't sound too bad, actually_, she thinks. She carefully untangles herself from Asami, swapping her torso for a pillow, throws a clean vest on and heads downstairs to cook something up.

On the way to the kitchen she stops to make a quick phone call to her father, telling him that Asami's fine, everything's fine, and they'll call them later to explain more. She hears him sob with tears of relief.

"Talk later Dad. Love you." She says, smiling.

She then dials Tenzin, giving him a very brief outline of what's happened, and asking him to come by later with Lin so that they can discuss everything. He doesn't sound like he believes anything she's saying about her new powers, so she's looking forwards to showing him…

She put the phone down and positively dances into the kitchen, amazed at how alive, giddy and care-free she feels.

A few deft pancake flips later, she has a stack of them in a pile, still steaming, drizzled with a sweet sauce she'd discovered in the north which she knows complements them. She'd smuggled a bottle of it into Asami's kitchen months ago, as well as several southern water tribe spices, her lucky cooking gloves and her favourite pan. Korra pauses mid-way up the stairs, bemused at the realisation that she's practically moved in, and can't even figure out when.

When she returns to their bedroom, Asami has one eye open, and Korra grins as she air-bends the bedside table forwards a nudge, serving her beautiful girlfriend breakfast in bed.

"Hmm, weird," Asami says, "I'm sure I was just dreaming about these…"

Asami sits up and quickly rolls a pancake up with a healthy dollop of extra sauce, stabs it with a fork, sticks it into her mouth, chews, swallows, then licks her fingers.

Korra bursts out laughing, half way through rolling her own pancake, "You're such a pig!"

"It's not my fault your food is so good!" Asami pouts, grabbing a second helping.

Soon there's just one pancake left. Asami stares at Korra, Korra stares back, and they both stab at it with a fork at the same time.

"Mine!" Asami demands.

"Half?" Korra compromises.

"Half, then," Asami agrees begrudgingly… then sticks the whole thing in her mouth anyway and tries not to laugh, face stuffed with pancake. She eventually manages to chew and gulp it down.

"You little," Korra air-bends the blankets off Asami and dives onto the bed, wrestling Asami's arms back, "pancake thief!"

Asami giggles as Korra begins a vicious tickling assault, thrashing around the bed, trying to fight her off.

"hahaha! Stop it! Korra!" she squeals, eyes bright with amusement, but then jade eyes flash dangerously and legs are suddenly around Korra's waist, and before she knows it Asami's on top of her, glaring down victoriously, one eyebrow raised.

It's then that Korra notices Asami's wearing nothing but a half buttoned shirt, and briefs… her throat goes dry, and she finds herself yearning to do more than tickle Asami and feed her pancakes. Much more.

"I know what you're thinking, Korra," Asami smiles with a wicked curve to one side of her lips, turning Korra a brighter shade of red. It infuriates her how well Asami can read her, but she also kind of _likes_ it.

Asami suddenly looks at her with a more sombre expression…

"We're alive, and we're together…" Asami whispers, leaning forwards until Korra feels Asami's breasts rest atop hers, and lips brushing against her ear, "…and all I can think about is how badly I need your skin against mine," Korra groans at the words, "how I need to be kissing you right now… and how much I want to make love to you all day."

She feels teeth sink into her ear at the last word, causing heat to pulse over her entire body, and her heart to pound heavily in her chest. She stares intently as Asami sits upright, still straddling her, and she's overwhelmed with the need to make love to this amazing woman, to celebrate the fact that they're alive, they've survived.

She sits up beneath Asami's thighs, tugging her vest off as quickly as she can, before she helps Asami unbutton the rest of her shirt, which then slides off her arms. She takes a moment to appreciate the absolute beauty before her, then places her lips against Asami's torso, trailing gentle kisses upwards.

Asami's fingers thread into her hair as Korra continues to kiss, her lips finding collar bone, then neck, before she pauses to pull back and look into Asami's eyes. Their foreheads touch, their eyes never looking away from one another…

"I don't think I've ever needed you this much…" Asami says quietly, fingertips trailing lightly down Korra's shoulders.

"I need you too…" she says, quietly, "more than you know… I'm so happy," she says, blinking back fresh tears.

She kisses Asami, and the sensation reminds her of the pure joy she'd experienced when she'd seen the spirit world explode into life. Vivid colours flash through her mind, and her heart beats almost painfully as she feels Asami's tongue lightly flicker against her own… Everything from the past few days comes flooding back to her, and from the way the kiss is deepening, she knows Asami is feeling the same. It's almost like… sheer desperation, to be as close as possible to one another.

She slides her palms up Asami's back, pulling their bodies together, and feeling breasts squeeze against her own… She groans at the contact, breaks from the kiss to trail kisses around Asami's neck, slowly down her torso, and eventually to her plump breast. The fingers in her hair tighten as she places her lips against the hardened nipple, sucking it gently between her lips and into her mouth, then sliding her tongue across the tip.

A fire blazes between her legs at the sound of Asami's first gasps of pleasure, and she applies more pressure with her tongue, flicking it across the captive nipple, as Asami's hips start to slowly rock above her thighs.

"Korra," she hears Asami whisper, "Don't be gentle. Don't tease. I need you… I want you…"

The last few words are said in a growl, and she hisses as Asami's nails dig into her shoulder, as if to reinforce the point. She quickly attacks Asami's neglected breast with renewed vigour, clasping the taut nipple between her teeth and biting, groaning loudly into Asami's chest when nails rake across her back… she's desperate to feel every inch of Asami, it's an aching need, and every hair on her body stands on end.

"Do you have any idea what you _do_ to me?" she growls, her voice hoarse. She wants to touch Asami, feel her, and taste her, all of her… more than ever.

"You make me lose myself," Asami whispers, and Korra pauses her pursuit to look up at her lover, places the tip of her thumb in the hem of Asami's briefs, and gently tugs…

"I want to feel you… all of you…" Her voice is so deep it's barely recognisable, even to herself.

They quickly shed the last barriers of clothing between them, and before she can drink in the sight of the naked beauty before her, a palm is thrust against Korra's torso, forcing her down onto the mattress, where her lips are immediately captured in a frenzied, deep kiss. She feels dizzy, Asami's lips fiercely assault hers, and they're both groaning into each other.

She fists her fingers into Asami's hair, slides a leg between her thighs, gasping as she feels a slickness against her flesh, and moaning when Asami returns the favour, providing her with much needed friction as their thighs interlock completely.

They rock against each other, their wetness and sweat causing them to glide effortlessly, and Korra's sure she could come, even just doing this… she's already so far gone… she doesn't allow herself to, though.

She manages to squeeze her hand between their bodies, down past Asami's abdomen, where she extends her fingers and ventures down further, finding purchase between her thigh and Asami's sex… a little more… _there_.

Asami moans loudly, and she's so wet against her hand that Korra has to use every ounce of willpower to remain focused. She feels Asami's strength buckle, torso collapsing above hers, and lips against her ear, gasping lightly. Korra takes advantage of Asami's moment of weakness to thrust her torso upwards and flip them around, until she's on top, and her hands are free to roam as she desires.

"That's cheating," Asami gasps, though she doesn't complain when Korra starts to trail a fingertip down her abdomen, sliding it down towards the waiting wetness.

She rolls her fingers in light circles around Asami's clit, feeling drunk at the sight of Asami, looking like this… lower lip caught between teeth, reddened cheeks, head tilted backwards, and mouth agape. Hips rock into her hand, and she leans down to kiss and bite around Asami's ear, exposed neck and collar bone. She matches Asami's thrusts, sliding her fingers up and down the hardened bud, moving lower with each thrust until she feels even more of Asami's dampness, which sends a fresh wave of pleasure streaking through her body.

"Asami… you're so wet…" she groans.

Asami's hips start to thrust urgently against her hand, the moans grow louder, and Korra can feel that Asami's getting close. _Not yet_, she thinks. She wants to relish the moment, take her time. She slows down and stops her fingers from going any deeper in their strokes, so that they're barely resting inside of the inviting warmth.

"Don't… fucking… tease," Asami groans, hips desperately rocking, trying to force Korra's fingers deeper.

The words make Korra forget any pretence about holding back… she wants Asami, _now_. She slips a hand between the mattress and Asami's back, pulling her torso up slightly with her palm, then trails her lips from their purchase on Asami's neck to her torso, then breast, clasping her teeth against the hard, pink peak, and sliding two fingers deeply into Asami's wetness, pressing her palm firmly against her clit.

"Oh, Korra…" Asami's eyes flicker closed and her hips rock steadily against Korra's palm. She finds herself groaning every time Asami gasps, every time she slides her fingers back inside, every time she feels Asami's entire body quiver at her touch.

Asami's thrusts become more demanding, and she pulls her fingers out further, sliding them back in with greater force, and it's almost effortless because Asami is so wet…_ so fucking wet…_

"Don't stop."

Asami groans the words, and the nails clawing down her back force Korra to ride herself against Asami's thigh, she's barely able to resist the need for her own release, and Asami's rocking into her hand again and again…

"Don't stop…"

Asami's fingers tightly grip into her shoulders.

"Don't… sto…" Asami's thrusts turn violent, and Korra grinds harder against her thigh, her own needs taking over with a sudden urgency.

"I'm coming! Fuck, Korra…" Asami's nails dig into her flesh, hips grind roughly into her palm and a new flood of wetness streams down her fingers. She moans loudly, squeezing her eyes closed and thrusting herself firmly against Asami's thigh, soaking it with her wetness, and she's coming too, she can't stop it now... She cries out in ecstasy, vaguely aware of Asami doing the same, crying out her name, clenching fists into her damp hair as walls contract and flutter around her fingers.

She gasps for air, taking a moment to recover her senses, before collapsing forward and resting her body on top of Asami's. After the stars have cleared from her vision, she places soft kisses against Asami's ear.

"You're amazing…" she mumbles, "I love you..."

Asami's arms squeeze Korra tightly against her, "I love you too," she breathes.

They lay contentedly in each other's arms for a while, then turn on their sides to face one another. Korra pulls herself closer to Asami's frame so that she can kiss her again, tenderly, slowly. She soon feels Asami's fingertips trail up and down her spine, then tangle into her hair, and before she knows it, she finds herself kissing Asami more intently, with renewed passion.

Life is good.

Being alive is good.

But being with the woman she loves? That's the best feeling of all.

_I don't want this to end, at least not for today_, she thinks. She pulls apart from their kiss, delighted to see beautiful, lustful green eyes staring right back at her.

"Again?" she asks, her voice sounding deeper than she remembers.

"Oh, yes..." Asami growls, stretching out a perfect, lithe body, then deftly flipping Korra over onto her back, and straddling her, "But this time, I'm on top."

::

Tenzin looks at Lin, and tries to maintain a neutral expression even though they both quite clearly hear every groan, cry and loud whisper, even outside of the Sato mansion. Then there's a loud crash, followed by Asami screaming "YES!"…

Lin rests her head in her palm, "Let's come back tomorrow." She says, dryly.

"Tomorrow," Tenzin agrees.


	18. Epilogue

Korra chews on the pencil between her lips, staring at the blank pages before her.

"Ugh, this feels stupid," she says, out loud, about to close the empty diary and return it to the shelf. But she pauses, frowning to herself. She has a few hours of nervous energy to kill, and she promised Asami she wouldn't wear herself out training today. She also promised that she'd take Asami's advice and start writing into this thing. _"It's therapeutic, you should try it!"_

Korra's not convinced, but she presses pencil to paper, unsure where to even start. It's been two years since she received the power of Ravatu, and a lot's changed since then.

"Two years ago it is, then…" she mumbles, starting to scribble furiously.

::

Dear Diary,

Gotta admit, this feels dumb… but I've started now, so here goes nothing. I guess I should write about some important stuff that's happened the past couple years.

Two years ago

Lots of crazy stuff happened, I nearly died. Asami saved me. Then I saved Asami, but I actually did die. Raava and Vaatu merged because of our love, and they resurrected me.

_[This sounds stupid! I knew writing this was a bad idea… ugh… oh well.]_

So it turns out Vaatu wasn't that evil after all, just hurting inside. A lot. I guess we all have a reason for being the way we are, though I'm not sure I'd ever forgive him for killing all those people. I guess it must be different for ancient spirits, because Raava forgave him.

Anyway, they turned into a _[big yellow blob golden]_, shining orb, and gave me a new power.

Asami and I… um… _[made out for two days straight]_ rested for a while.

I told Dad, Tenzin, Kya, Katara and Lin everything, and they agreed to keep things quiet for a while.

About a month later

I thought Naga was sick, I almost puked with worry. Turns out she was pregnant!

We ended up with three awesome pups, and named them Fatty – for obvious reasons, Cheddar – because he'd always steal the stuff somehow, and Lucky – because she was stillborn, but I nursed life into her.

Lin and Kya adopted Fatty. Oh yeah, they're a thing now. I don't know when they got together, but Lin is like a different person these days. She still puts on a tough act, but Kya manages to make her melt every time, and Asami thinks it's adorable.

_[And I think Asami is adorable and I can't wait to see her today]_

We kept Lucky, and she's been a handful, but we love her to bits.

Cheddar adopted Wu, after Wu jumped into the road to save him from what would have been a fatal car accident. Wu was in a bad way after that, and I had to use energy bending in public for the first time to save him.

A few weeks after that…

Obviously, the press found out about my new powers. It was chaotic for a while, everyone tried to get to me, beg me to grant them bending. And then other people asked me to take it away from those they felt didn't deserve it.

In the end the answer was obvious, _[that they should all just go away]_ that it shouldn't be my choice. Tenzin formed a new council with representatives from each nation, and republic city.

Raiko, Desna and Eska, Izumi, Wu, Tenzin and I meet roughly once a month. They each elect two candidates from their nations, and I grant the bending ability of their choice. I've given talented healers water bending, skilled mechanics earth bending, in the hopes they'll be able to metal bend, and lots more beside.

The council also votes on whether someone should have bending removed, though it's only happened twice so far. Kuvira requested it, because she wanted an early release, to try to fix things with her family. Zaheer was less receptive to the idea, but the council felt he was too big a threat if left unchecked. They've been able to put him into a lower security cell now, so maybe he'll find some comfort in that…

A year ago

Asami took me out in a new speedboat, with actual rockets on the back. It's crazy fast, but it broke down (actually, it set on fire…). I made Asami feel better by _[running my lips ove…]_ telling her how amazing she _[tastes]_ is.

Anyway, after our _discussion_, Asami got the boat working and took me to an island. Turns out she built a little log cabin retreat for the two of us there… we slept there for the night, and the next morning, she asked me to be her wife.

So yeah, maybe I cried, but so what. I said yes, obviously…

Six months ago

Bolin and Opal had their first kid, and called her Lana. She's really pretty_[, for a baby]_.

Asami and I are unofficial aunts to her, since Bolin insisted.

Sometimes I think about adopting kids, and I talked to Asami back then about it. She wants to leave it a while, and I'm in no hurry, so that's fine.

Asami surprised me just a week after that – she showed me blueprints for a new Orphanage, it was built just a couple of weeks after that. We both help out there whenever we can.

Today

Well… I'm getting married to the most beautiful, kind and loving woman in the world. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her. I can't wait…

::

Korra snaps the book shut with a wide grin just as her mother walks into the room.

"Honey! You haven't started to get ready?" Senna says, folding her arms.

"Huh? What time is it?"

"It's just after four… The ceremony's in an hour!"

"Shit!" Korra panics, jumping off the bed. It's fortunate that she already showered this morning, so she's left with the small task of fixing her hair, and squeezing into her new dress.

::

Asami looks over herself in the mirror, nervously. She's let her hair down today, because she knows Korra prefers it that way. She's wearing a figure-hugging black tuxedo, with a white, frilled blouse, and a single, crimson rose clipped onto the jacket pocket. She'd realised some time ago that Korra had a thing for women in business attire, made obvious by how quickly said clothes would be ripped off her whenever she wore them.

She smirks at the not-so-distant memories.

"You look astounding. Korra won't know what's hit her." Tonraq beams at her, leaning a shoulder against her doorway, and she chuckles, smiling back at him.

_It feels so good to have family again… _

She's grown so close to Tonraq and Senna that it's like having a mother and father again… they treat her like a daughter. They accepted her into their lives with open arms, and there hadn't been even a moment of hesitation when she'd asked permission for their daughter's hand last year.

She fiddles with her hair nervously, and thinks about re-applying her lipstick as it suddenly looks less-than-perfect. She's interrupted as Tonraq places a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Less than an hour to go. And we still have to get to the temple… trust me honey, you look fantastic. I couldn't be prouder."

She tries to hold back tears at the words, and nods at him, following him outside and towards the car. A short drive to the port, then a five minute trip across the lake, and then… then she'll be marrying the woman of her dreams.

::

Her mind's a blur, and she barely remembers travelling. But somehow, she's stood at the pier on Air Temple Island. The air's crisp, and it's a sunny, beautiful day. Tonraq takes her by the hand, and she feels a pang of guilt stab through her again.

"Tonraq… are you sure about this?"

He chuckles, "Are we really going to have this discussion again?"

She smiles, and shakes her head.

Everyone had bullied her into the idea, so she'd had to relent… Korra and Tonraq had been especially adamant. She's to be given away by him. Korra had asked if Tenzin would do the same for her, and the old bender had burst into tears at the request.

"Besides, the sooner you call me father, the happier I'll be." Tonraq says, squeezing her hand.

She forces back her happy tears, because she doesn't want to mess up the makeup she's spent agonizing hours perfecting for the past couple of hours.

And then, she's there, at the foot of the altar. She can't see Korra anywhere yet, but it looks like the guests are all here, and they're looking back at her, gasping, grinning and waving, as she walks to the place she's supposed to wait, just to the rear of the guests at the east side. Milo's being held back by an angry-looking Pema, the other kids are being generally well behaved. Bolin's going to be performing the ceremony, and he's already stood there, waving at her.

She's relieved to see that the Beifongs are all here, including Toph. It'd taken Korra a lot of time, effort and even grovelling, but Toph had eventually forgiven her. She spots Mako, sat up front next to Rei, and they both give her a cheeky thumbs-up. Lin and Kya are also sat together, and she still thinks they're adorable…

She sighs, contentedly. So many people have turned up for this. She looks up to the sky, and it seems even the spirits have turned up. There's snake-dragons gliding slowly across the sky, their voices ringing out in perfect harmony with each other, and little dragonfly bunnies are hopping about all over the fields.

There's suddenly a chorus of gasps and the crows looks somewhere behind her. She turns around and feels her heart skip a beat.

"Wow." Tonraq's voice rumbles next to her.

_Yeah, wow._

She had no idea what Korra would wear, they'd agreed to keep it a secret… but as Korra walks closer, hand-in-hand with a red-faced, clearly emotional Tenzin, the folds of the silken white-gold dress flow with the light breeze, and Asami feels like there's an angel walking towards her. Korra's hair has grown out, and falls below her shoulders, but there's two elegantly-platted braids, threaded with water-tribe blue, cascading in front of her face.

She doesn't take her eyes of the spectacle, and feels herself redden in the face when Korra takes her position at the opposite end of the hall, staring across at her, mouth agape, and wide, blue eyes.

The band starts to play, the guests all stand, and she closes her eyes a moment, listening to the beautiful tune which Tahno composed especially for them.

"Come on then… let's do this." Tonraq grins, mimicking his daughter's catchphrase.

They're led up the altar together, though they're kept apart by Tonraq and Tenzin, and it might be a short distance but it's almost painful. She already wants to be in Korra's arms, telling her how much she loves her…

Tenzin shuffles away from Korra to sit next to Pema, and Tonraq gives her hand one last squeeze before taking his own seat next to Senna. Then, they're alone at the altar. She reaches her hand out, and turns to face her bride-to-be, drowning in Korra's eyes and feeling fingers entwine into hers almost immediately.

Bolin coughs loudly, drawing their attention to the front, and Pabu chirrups from his shoulder as though trying to mimic him.

"Please be seated, everyone." He says loudly, clearly putting on his best formal act.

"Asami… Korra. I think I speak for everyone here, when I say… it's about time."

The crowd chuckles at the remark, and Asami smirks.

"You both look beautiful today, and I couldn't be happier for two of my closest, dearest friends. You deserve this. You deserve each other. You balance each other more than anyone I've ever met."

Bolin begins to tear up, and quickly regains his composure.

"What I mean to say is, you complete each other. And that's why we're here today. Asami… if you would?"

She feels a shower of nervous butterflies flood through her, and has to stop herself giggling like a child. She clears her throat, glances around nervously… then turns to face Korra, takes both hands in hers, and stares into amazingly pure, blue eyes.

"Korra… until I met you, I was lost. The second you came into my life… well, everything changed. It didn't take long for me to fall for you, you were the avatar! Everyone loved you!"

Korra chuckles at the words, and looks a little embarrassed.

"But then something changed… the avatar was great and all, but I fell in love with _you_. I fell in love with Korra. I can't put into words how much you light up my life…"

She sees Tonraq stand, walk to her side and open up a box, from which she takes a pure, metal band. She's had it engraved with the words "Let's do it!" She hopes Korra likes it…

"… But what I _can_ put into words is how much I need you in my life. I want to grow old and grey with you. I want to be with you forever. And I want to be yours, forever. Korra… will you be my wife?"

Tears stream down Korra's cheeks, and she nods her head vigorously.

"Yes…!" Korra holds her hand out, from which Asami takes a finger, and slips the ring onto it. It's a perfect fit.

"And Korra, when you're ready… please." Bolin asks, though it takes a few moments for Korra to find her voice, and regain her composure.

"Asami… When we first met, I think I kind of hated you."

Both Asami and the crowd laugh at the words.

"Well, I didn't _hate_ you. But I was jealous. You were rich, and pretty, and then Mako had a thing for you…"

She raises an eyebrow, wondering if Korra's really going to go there, now of all times.

"I was wrong. Everything was mixed up inside of me, but the longer I spent with you, the more I found myself wanting to be with you. I'd think about you all the time, without really knowing why. It was only when I went away that I realised what an idiot I'd been…"

She squeezes Korra's hand, offering reassurance, and notices Tenzin stand, opening a small container, from which Korra pulls what looks to be a necklace with a deep red band, and a silver, southern water-tribe emblem.

"I never knew what love really was until I realised how much my heart ached every time we were apart. You are the thing that I never even knew I was missing… You are my person, you are my home, the love of my life. I love you, Asami Sato, and I feel like I always have. Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" she chokes the word out, her heart swollen with emotion, overflowing, forcing tears to flood from her eyes. She grins from ear to ear as Korra gently clasps the necklace closed behind her neck.

"I now pronounce you wife and wife," Bolin says, through badly-concealed sobs, "you may kiss the bride."

The crowd roars into applause, and the spirits sing out in unison as she falls into Korra's embrace, immediately finding Korra's lips with her own, smiling, laughing, and crying.

"I love you…" she whispers.

"I love you, always." Korra whispers back, stroking a hand through her hair.

::

The rest of the day happens as though in a blur, and before she knows it, they're stood on the pier, climbing into her special speedboat, waving goodbye to everyone as they depart for their honeymoon.

Korra pulls them out of port, and the boat ebbs forwards, gently skipping over small waves.

Asami turns to grin at Korra, "You're really getting the hang of this!"

Korra grins back, "Well, it's easier than driving a car!"

She laughs at the words. She'd promised herself if they got through this, she'd teach Korra how to drive. Several crushed lampposts later she'd given up, admitting defeat. Boats however… well, turns out Korra's a natural with more than just water-tribe sailboats.

"Here we go!" Korra yells, and she buckles herself in, already grinning wildly in anticipation.

There's a loud roar as the rockets at the back of the vessel burst into life, propelling them towards the setting sun, and towards their bright future…

-==[ The End ] ==-

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**an** \- this site doesn't allow the strikethrough font, so treat any text in Korra's diary that looks _[Like this]_ to be stricken through, as in stuff she wrote then crossed out. Or, just read the fic on AO3 instead.

Hope you liked the story! Please review.


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